In the Lab By Asian Scientist Newsroom In Pursuit Of
Herbicide-Resistant, High-Yield Rice
August
21, 2019 The gene HIS1 in rice plants is
essential for herbicide resistance, say researchers in Japan. SHARE SHARE TWEET
SHARE AsianScientist (Aug. 21, 2019) – In a study published in Science,
researchers in Japan have identified a rice gene that renders the crop
resistant to several widely used beta-triketone herbicides. Rice is a staple
food for more than 3.5 billion people and is among the world’s most important
crops. To meet the demands of the global food supply, herbicides for
controlling weeds are required for efficient 
crop production. While a useful herbicide is
toxic to unwanted plants but harmless to the crop of interest, overuse of individual
herbicides can lead to the emergence of weeds resistant to their once-deadly
effects. Benzobicyclon (BBC), a beta-triketone herbicide developed for use in
rice paddy fields, is effective against paddy weeds resistant to other
herbicidal agents. However, BBC is also toxic to several high-yield rice
varieties. To identify the gene responsible for BBC resistance or sensitivity,
Dr. Hideo Maeda and colleagues at the Institute of Crop Science, Japan,
performed map-based cloning on BBC-resistant and BBC-sensitive rice varieties.
The team identified HIS1, a gene that confers resistance to BBC and other
beta-triketone herbicides. HIS1 encodes an oxidase that catalyzes and
detoxifies BBC compounds. However, susceptible rice varieties inherited a
dysfunctional variant of the HIS1 gene alongside genetic mutations that disable
expression of HIS1. Because genes with similar function to HIS1 appear to be
widely conserved in other important crop species, the findings of this study
could facilitate the breeding of other herbicide-resistant crops as well, said
the researchers. The article can be found at: Maeda et al. (2019) A Rice Gene
That Confers Broad-spectrum Resistance to β-triketone Herbicides. Read more
from Asian Scientist Magazine at: https://www.asianscientist.com/2019/08/in-the-lab/benzobicyclon-rice-his1-gene-herbicide-resistance/
crop production. While a useful herbicide is
toxic to unwanted plants but harmless to the crop of interest, overuse of individual
herbicides can lead to the emergence of weeds resistant to their once-deadly
effects. Benzobicyclon (BBC), a beta-triketone herbicide developed for use in
rice paddy fields, is effective against paddy weeds resistant to other
herbicidal agents. However, BBC is also toxic to several high-yield rice
varieties. To identify the gene responsible for BBC resistance or sensitivity,
Dr. Hideo Maeda and colleagues at the Institute of Crop Science, Japan,
performed map-based cloning on BBC-resistant and BBC-sensitive rice varieties.
The team identified HIS1, a gene that confers resistance to BBC and other
beta-triketone herbicides. HIS1 encodes an oxidase that catalyzes and
detoxifies BBC compounds. However, susceptible rice varieties inherited a
dysfunctional variant of the HIS1 gene alongside genetic mutations that disable
expression of HIS1. Because genes with similar function to HIS1 appear to be
widely conserved in other important crop species, the findings of this study
could facilitate the breeding of other herbicide-resistant crops as well, said
the researchers. The article can be found at: Maeda et al. (2019) A Rice Gene
That Confers Broad-spectrum Resistance to β-triketone Herbicides. Read more
from Asian Scientist Magazine at: https://www.asianscientist.com/2019/08/in-the-lab/benzobicyclon-rice-his1-gene-herbicide-resistance/
This Is How 2 Brothers Brought The Soul Of Persian Cuisine To Austin
Chef
Amir Hajimaleki was eight years old when his family moved to the United States,
leaving friends and family behind. It was a sad yet exciting time because he
knew, even at a young age, that coming to the U.S. would open opportunities he
never would have had in Iran.
At
such an early age, the adjustment was manageable. “I loved growing up in
Austin, people were nice and welcoming. Our schools and teachers were helpful
in getting us adjusted to the culture, helping us learn English,” says
Hajimaleki. But the biggest change was the food. “We didn’t go to the
market every day to get fresh vegetables and meat to make dinner, we instead
ate fast food. We also didn’t play outside as much. In Iran we would play
football (soccer) until it was dark outside.”
Amir Hajimaleki's lamb shank with
creamy laurel-aged Charleston gold rice and fava beans is an example of how
ties together traditional Persian and American dishes.
HAYDEN WALKER
However,
moving to the United States gave him the opportunity to turn a dream of owning
a restaurant into a reality. Hajimaleki is the chef and owner of District
Kitchen + Cocktails and Oasthouse Kitchen + Bar, two Austin neighborhood
restaurants featuring seasonally inspired menus that push the boundaries of
traditional American fare by incorporating flavors and traditions from their
Persian heritage. Alongside his brother Ali, who oversees desserts and
pastries, Hajimaleki knows that owning a restaurant is something he never could
have achieved living in Iran, and he is grateful because here he has found
success.
Brothers Ali and Amir Hajimaleki
left Iran at an early age, and found their dream of owning a restaurant in
Austin, Texas.
COURTNEY PIERCE
“I
think the best way to understand any country's culture is through its food,”
says Hajimaleki, whose laid-back demeanor and honest smile will win anyone
over. “I express my Persian roots not only through food, but hospitality. What
you don’t often see or hear is that Persian people are extremely friendly,
generous, and hospitable. When I was a child living in Iran, my grandparents
would buy butter, cheese, bread and eggs to donate to small villages or
orphanages in need.”
Hospitality
was instilled in the Hajimaleki brothers at a young age, teaching them to take
care of others. “When you are a guest of an Iranian host, you will find that
there is always a spread way bigger than the amount of people invited could
ever eat. Growing up watching this culture has shaped who I am today because
even during a time of war, the Persian community came together through hospitality.
People would gather, eat and laugh and forget the daily struggles. This is the
reason I wanted to become a chef and restaurateur.”
Hajimaleki created this
deconstructed tahchin, a traditional Iranian rice cake consisting of chicken,
rice, yogurt, saffron, eggs and zerishk (barberries).
SARA PLOOF
Hajimaleki
enjoys sharing his Persian heritage through food by incorporating dishes from
his childhood on the menus, or simply by using saffron, orange blossom water,
cardamom, rose water and turmeric in his cooking to give his New American menus
a twist. “I’ve modernized certain Persian dishes and hybridized others,” says
the chef. “For example, I modernized traditional tahchin by deconstructing it
using updated culinary techniques.” Tahchin is an Iranian rice cake consisting
of chicken, rice, yogurt, saffron, eggs and zerishk (barberries). “I made a
saffron yogurt sphere, which I place on a crispy tahdig with sous vide duck
breast. I then use the barberries to make a beautiful barberry pomegranate sauce.”
He
also enjoys creating hybrid dishes that tie together traditional Persian and
American dishes. His braised lamb shank with creamy laurel-aged
Charleston gold rice and fava beans is a great example. “I like to
use dorper lamb for taste and look for a mix breed of Dorset Horn and
Blackhead Persian sheep,” he says. The lamb is braised with onions,
garlic, turmeric, advieh (a spice blend consisting of
cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, rose buds, ginger, cumin) saffron, orange
blossom water and lamb stock. He pairs this with a creamy rice enriched
with goat cheese, garnished with pistachio-lemon gremolata and fresh
dill.
Chef Amir Hajimaleki in his
kitchen at Oasthouse Kitchen + Bar in North Austin.
COMMUNITY IMPACT
“I
use laurel-aged Charleston gold rice because it’s aged with red bay
laurel leaves for three years, giving it similar aromatics as basmati rice.”
This dish is typically served with a baghali polo, a fava bean
rice made with basmati rice, dill and saffron. “This is a perfect
example of “hybridizing” Persian and American to accommodate the
American palate.”
Hajimaleki
is currently developing and testing a third concept, Roya. Meaning “dream” in
Farsi, this forthcoming concept is a chef-driven Persian restaurant with modern
versions of traditional dishes, like Fesenjān, a Persian stew made with
poultry, pomegranate and walnuts in a cast iron skillet. Hajimaleki
recreated this dish into a “cast iron chicken”
with braised chicken thighs, pomegranate and fresh pomegranate
seeds, walnuts and white wine, served in a
sizzling cast iron skillet over orange-scented basmati rice.
Hajimaleki's version of Fesenjān
features braised chicken thighs, pomegranate and fresh pomegranate seeds,
walnuts and white wine, served in a sizzling cast iron skillet over orange-scented
basmati rice.
COURTNEY PIERCE
“I
am excited to open Roya and really deliver a full Persian menu to showcase not
only classics made with modern culinary techniques, but to share the heritage,
culture and history of the cuisine and country,” he says. He is also eager to
pay it forward by creating jobs and opportunities for others. “As a chef and
restaurateur, it’s important to me to give back because the people I have
worked with are mostly immigrants on the same journey. They are good people who
work hard and take care of their families just like the rest of us. As far as
I'm concerned, we are all on one team. Just like a kitchen, if you foster a
culture of people who welcome, teach and embrace one another, you will inspire
others to change their tune.”
Chef Amir Hajimaleki puts the
final touches on a dish during a pop-up for Roya, his upcoming Persian cuisine
concept.
TICO MENDOZA
The
road has not been easy, but hard work and a true passion for sharing his gifts
has landed Hajimaleki right where he wants to be. His immigrant cuisine is
exciting and vibrant, and his endeavors continue to be successful despite the
current socio-political climate. “There is no place for hate in this world, so
you must handle it maturely,” he says. “I’ve dealt with it by trying to educate
those who judge, by always staying respectful and taking the higher
road. I treat every day as an opportunity because I know it’s an
opportunity I wouldn’t have in Iran, which is why I love this country. I’ve
always embraced this mentality and I think it’s helped to get me to where I am
today.”
Louisiana Rice Farmers Look for a Silver Lining for
2019 Crop
LAKE CHARLES, LA -- Rice harvest in Louisiana has
been going on for a few weeks now, with some growers having just gotten
started, and some just wrapping up. All in all, this was a more difficult
year than anyone anticipated. Dr. Dustin Harrell recently wrote about
this year's Louisiana crop in an article he titled: "What Could Go
Wrong, Did Go Wrong."
That was a sentiment growers in our area all agree on.
"This year was a little tougher than expected," said Eric Unkel, a farmer from Allen Parish. "Everyone was looking for an uneventful year and that's not what we got."
Early in the season, weather was the culprit, from planting conditions to Hurricane Barry's unwelcomed visit, erratic weather seemed to indicate decreased yield projections. And once harvest got underway, there were more surprises in store. Reports of bacterial panicle blight, sooty mold, and even damages from wild hogs have taken additional tolls on the 2019 yield.
The challenge now is finding a silver lining in this disappointing season.
"Obviously we can't control the weather," said Jackie Loewer, a rice farmer in Acadia Parish. "But we can reach out to our research and extension personnel for help in dealing with disease and hog issues. That's the difference in having rice research and promotion boards - they're always working to remedy the adversity that we face in the rice industry."
A world-renowned group of researchers and extension specialists at the Louisiana State University AgCenter's Rice Research Station work on not only what's gone wrong, but also improving on what can go right.
"The LSU AgCenter team is already gathering information from the field, considering options on the issues that made this year unique, and looking for answers to better prepare growers for this year's ratoon crop and into the 2020 planting season and beyond," said Loewer. "From recommendations on stubble management and fertilization practices to capitalize on the benefits of our ratoon crop, to the never ending pursuit of variety developments to increase resistance to the diseases that affect our yields, and new research on controlling the impact of the growing feral swine epidemic facing all areas of the state, our research check-off dollars go to resolving the issues the rice industry faces."
Unkel concluded, "We will have tough years from time to time, that's just farming. Having the means to find solutions to the question of what made it so tough allows us to improve and look forward to the next year."
That was a sentiment growers in our area all agree on.
"This year was a little tougher than expected," said Eric Unkel, a farmer from Allen Parish. "Everyone was looking for an uneventful year and that's not what we got."
Early in the season, weather was the culprit, from planting conditions to Hurricane Barry's unwelcomed visit, erratic weather seemed to indicate decreased yield projections. And once harvest got underway, there were more surprises in store. Reports of bacterial panicle blight, sooty mold, and even damages from wild hogs have taken additional tolls on the 2019 yield.
The challenge now is finding a silver lining in this disappointing season.
"Obviously we can't control the weather," said Jackie Loewer, a rice farmer in Acadia Parish. "But we can reach out to our research and extension personnel for help in dealing with disease and hog issues. That's the difference in having rice research and promotion boards - they're always working to remedy the adversity that we face in the rice industry."
A world-renowned group of researchers and extension specialists at the Louisiana State University AgCenter's Rice Research Station work on not only what's gone wrong, but also improving on what can go right.
"The LSU AgCenter team is already gathering information from the field, considering options on the issues that made this year unique, and looking for answers to better prepare growers for this year's ratoon crop and into the 2020 planting season and beyond," said Loewer. "From recommendations on stubble management and fertilization practices to capitalize on the benefits of our ratoon crop, to the never ending pursuit of variety developments to increase resistance to the diseases that affect our yields, and new research on controlling the impact of the growing feral swine epidemic facing all areas of the state, our research check-off dollars go to resolving the issues the rice industry faces."
Unkel concluded, "We will have tough years from time to time, that's just farming. Having the means to find solutions to the question of what made it so tough allows us to improve and look forward to the next year."
Why does
wildlife thrive in Chernobyl?
20 August 2019
Question
My question is about Chernobyl, and why it is that wildlife
seems to be thriving there, and yet we understand that humans still can’t
survive in the area. Why is that?
Answer
We received this question from
Bill. Phil Sansom asked Victoria Gill, a BBC news correspondent who reported
from Chernobyl early this year, to shed some light.
Phil - We put your question on
the forum. User RD pointed us to a 2007 paper showing higher frequency of
abnormalities in barn swallows around Chernobyl. Alancalverd said there’s a big
spectrum between surviving and thriving. Others were more interested in the new
Chernobyl vodka. Focus up, people.
To answer the question we needed
someone with first hand experience. Victoria Gill is a BBC news correspondent
who reported from Chernobyl early this year.
Victoria - The Chernobyl
exclusion zone. That’s the name of the 4,000 square kilometre area that was
abandoned after the 1986 disaster. And you’re exactly right about all that
wildlife. Since most humans moved out, researchers moved in, at least for short
periods. And they’ve recorded an increase in the population of all kinds of
species: wild boars, bears, and even wolves in the zone. Apparently some
species that used to live there historically but disappeared when the place was
populated by people have come back.
Sir David Attenborough himself
was even there for his recent Netflix series, Our Planet. So yes, wildlife
seems – according to most research - to be thriving throughout the zone. That
is for multiple reasons, but primarily it’s the very little human activity that
there now is in that area. And crucially, the contamination isn’t as widespread
and as ‘blanket ground-poisoning’ as many people believe. And in simple terms,
the vast majority of the zone is relatively low in contamination.
So you can measure that as a
dose. The dose per hour of radiation is often measured in a unit called
microsieverts per hour. The average dose for someone in the Chernobyl exclusion
zone – unless they spent a great deal of time in a very contaminated hotspot
for some reason – their annual dose would be about 1,000 microsieverts. You
would get about 60 microsieverts from one London to Los Angeles flight. And
you’d get an instant dose of about 10,000 microsieverts from a whole body CT
scan.
So now most of the zone, for
wildlife and people, is relatively safe. And a few people called self-settlers
who refused to abandon their homes in 1986 still live there. There’s no
agriculture allowed or any developmental building of this officially
contaminated land, and the locals there are actually fighting to have those
restrictions lifted.
So there’s a huge amount of
misunderstanding about how dangerous the zone is. But it’s something that
scientists are still working to get to the bottom of, so that people in Ukraine
and Belarus can be armed with the facts, and get on with their lives.
Phil - Thanks Victoria. Next time
we’re answering this question from Anthony. Anthony - penne for your thoughts?
Anthony - When pasta or rice is added to boiling water, there is
a sudden surge of the boiling water, to the point that the pot boils over with
bubbles. Why is this?
Jubilee government has let farmers down badly
A dairy farmer
in Nyahururu town, Nyandarua County. [File, Standard]The price of raw milk has gone down drastically in the recent
past. As a result, farmers in Nyandarua County are planning to stop selling
milk to processors.
They have a good reason to. While they were fetching Sh35 per
litre of milk, now they are earning only between Sh24 and Sh27 for the same
amount.
At a time when most parts of the country are experiencing
drought, meaning milk production is low, this is totally unacceptable. Matters
are compounded by the fact that the price of milk in retail outlets has not
changed. So what has changed?
According to Nyandarua Governor Francis Kimemia the milk
prices have been driven down by stiff competition occasioned by importation of
powder milk.
SEE
ALSO :Family of three
dies in a fire incident
The governor has pointed the finger at the Government for
allowing importation of milk powder. He is spot on; that is exactly where the
problem lies.
For reasons best know to it, the Government has allowed the
importation of all manner of foods at the expense of the farmer.
Only recently, poultry farmers were complaining over the
flooding of the market with cheap Ugandan eggs which made their ventures
unviable. Last month, the Government’s attempt to import maize was shot down by
protests of angry farmers who said they had enough grain in their granaries.
In addition, reckless importation of sugar has almost killed
our sugar industry. Rice importation has undermined Mwea rice fields; wheat
flour imports have dealt Narok farmers a body blow while fish from China has
hit fishermen below the belt.
Amid all these one cannot help but ask, whose
interests is the Jubilee government serving by allowing this imports? It can’t
be farmers. But cartels, business folk and foreigners have a reason to smile.
Zanzibar
sets sights on Indonesian textile, rice
Trade Minister Enggartiasto
Lukita. (ANTARA/Mentari Dwi Gayati/sh)
Jakarta (ANTARA) - Indonesian textile and rice have grabbed the
attention of Zanzibar, Tanzania’s semi-autonomous territory, which has invited
Indonesia to develop the region’s tourism sector, Trade Minister Enggartiasto
Lukita noted in a statement here on Wednesday.
Lukita held bilateral meetings with four ministers from African nations on Tuesday (Aug 20) on the sidelines of the Indonesia-Africa Infrastructure Dialogue (IAID) held in Nusa Dua, Bali.
The minister reaffirmed that the government will make sustained, consistent efforts to open access to non-traditional markets, especially in Africa.
"At the meeting, Indonesia and Zanzibar agreed to conduct an evaluation to identify challenges and opportunities for bilateral trade and investment," the minister remarked.
At the meeting with the Djibouti trade minister, he elaborated that both nations have agreed to start a joint feasibility study to serve as a basis to determine the form of the trade agreement, be it a Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA), Free Trade Agreement (FTA), or Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA).
The four ministers of African nations are Industry, Trade, and Investment Minister of Tanzania's special autonomous region of Zanzibar Amina Saloum Ali; Djibouti Trade Minister Hassan Houmed; Somalia Public Works, Reconstruction and Housing Minister Abdi Adam Hoosow; and Second Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Eastern Africa Community of Uganda A. M. Kirunda Kivejinja.
The total trade value between Indonesia and Tanzania had reached US$334.70 million in 2018, wherein Indonesia had enjoyed an import surplus of $263.20 million during the period and imports were valued at $71.50 million.
Indonesia's main export products to Tanzania include palm oil, women's garments, paper and cardboard, and mineral processing machines, while Indonesia chiefly imports cloves, cotton, unprocessed tobacco, and copper from Tanzania.
Indonesia has recorded $211.46 million worth of total trade in 2018 with Djibouti, with Indonesia's exports reaching $211.45 million and imports at $4 thousand.
"The total trade value is still far below the expectation, so we still have a wide opportunity to increase bilateral trade. Djibouti needs various products for its infrastructure development," Lukita pointed out.
Soap, palm oil, paper and cardboard, notebooks, and margarine are among the products exported to Djibouti, while infant clothing and accessories are imported from Djibouti.
Lukita highlighted the significance of cooperation with Djibouti, taking into account its position as a member of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA).
COMESA groups 21 nations in the eastern and southern Africa.
In the meantime, at the meeting with Somalia, both nations have agreed to boost business-to-business cooperation through business forums and business matching.
https://en.antaranews.com/news/131326/zanzibar-sets-sights-on-indonesian-textile-rice
Lukita held bilateral meetings with four ministers from African nations on Tuesday (Aug 20) on the sidelines of the Indonesia-Africa Infrastructure Dialogue (IAID) held in Nusa Dua, Bali.
The minister reaffirmed that the government will make sustained, consistent efforts to open access to non-traditional markets, especially in Africa.
"At the meeting, Indonesia and Zanzibar agreed to conduct an evaluation to identify challenges and opportunities for bilateral trade and investment," the minister remarked.
At the meeting with the Djibouti trade minister, he elaborated that both nations have agreed to start a joint feasibility study to serve as a basis to determine the form of the trade agreement, be it a Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA), Free Trade Agreement (FTA), or Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA).
The four ministers of African nations are Industry, Trade, and Investment Minister of Tanzania's special autonomous region of Zanzibar Amina Saloum Ali; Djibouti Trade Minister Hassan Houmed; Somalia Public Works, Reconstruction and Housing Minister Abdi Adam Hoosow; and Second Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Eastern Africa Community of Uganda A. M. Kirunda Kivejinja.
The total trade value between Indonesia and Tanzania had reached US$334.70 million in 2018, wherein Indonesia had enjoyed an import surplus of $263.20 million during the period and imports were valued at $71.50 million.
Indonesia's main export products to Tanzania include palm oil, women's garments, paper and cardboard, and mineral processing machines, while Indonesia chiefly imports cloves, cotton, unprocessed tobacco, and copper from Tanzania.
Indonesia has recorded $211.46 million worth of total trade in 2018 with Djibouti, with Indonesia's exports reaching $211.45 million and imports at $4 thousand.
"The total trade value is still far below the expectation, so we still have a wide opportunity to increase bilateral trade. Djibouti needs various products for its infrastructure development," Lukita pointed out.
Soap, palm oil, paper and cardboard, notebooks, and margarine are among the products exported to Djibouti, while infant clothing and accessories are imported from Djibouti.
Lukita highlighted the significance of cooperation with Djibouti, taking into account its position as a member of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA).
COMESA groups 21 nations in the eastern and southern Africa.
In the meantime, at the meeting with Somalia, both nations have agreed to boost business-to-business cooperation through business forums and business matching.
https://en.antaranews.com/news/131326/zanzibar-sets-sights-on-indonesian-textile-rice
Nigeria Threatens to Block Foreign Exchange to Food Importers, but More
Effective Policies could Boost Food Production
21 AUGUST 2019
Phoebe Sleet, Research Analyst,
Global Food and Water Crises Research
In a controversial move, the Nigerian Government has restricted
funding for food imports. President Muhammadu Buhari directed the Central Bank of Nigeria to block food importers’
requests for foreign currency, in a continuation of a policy designed to
support domestic agriculture. Imports of agricultural goods have been
restricted since 2015, as Nigeria attempts to stimulate the agricultural
sector, partly to limit its reliance on oil.
The 2015 policy included a ban on foreign exchange for 41 items that the
central bank felt could be produced domestically. The new directive represents
a drastic expansion of that policy, which could lead to food shortages and
inflation, rather than increase domestic food production.
Comment
Nigeria is the most populated country in Africa and overtook
South Africa as the continent’s largest economy in 2013. Despite that,
Nigeria underperforms economically. While the country’s economic growth has
been rapid, poverty has deep roots, with 70 per cent of Nigerians living below
the poverty line. Poverty is especially pronounced in rural areas, where it
combines with poor distribution of food and inadequate post-harvest technology
to make food insecurity a major challenge.
The Nigerian Government has attempted to make farming more
viable, by investing heavily in agriculture since 2015. Much of this investment
has come in the form of loans and farm inputs, which have been applied
unevenly. Many farmers are still unable to access farming incentives. As a
result, mechanisation
remains low, as is access to other farm inputs such as fertiliser.
Due to this, farmers (especially small-scale rice farmers) often live below the
poverty line, which makes access to necessary farm inputs increasingly
difficult. Investment in training for farmers is also poor and knowledge about
efficient ways to handle crops after harvest and then market the product is
also limited. Meanwhile, the lack of essential infrastructure, such as safe
roads, further limits farmers’ access to markets. Additionally, Nigeria’s main
rice growing regions are marred by high levels of insecurity, with more than three million
people displaced by ongoing ethnic conflict.
Despite the government’s aversion to food imports, domestic food
production has not increased enough to keep pace with population growth in Nigeria. While rice
production has increased significantly, the 3.7 million tonnes it produces is far short of the seven million tonnes the
country consumes. Similarly, corn production is 0.5 million tonnes short of national demand. Domestic wheat production is
also inadequate. Agricultural production also lacks diversity – the country’s
main crops are cassava, yams, sorghum, cocoa, groundnuts, maize and rice.
Cassava and yams account for 31 and 25 per cent of agricultural production, respectively. Estimates also
indicate that only a third of Nigeria’s agricultural land is under cultivation.
While there is some merit to the idea of limiting agricultural
imports to stimulate domestic agriculture (rice imports fell 95 per cent between 2015 and 2017), it has done little to
discourage illegal rice smuggling. Porous borders have made it difficult to
control illegal imports and competition with illegal goods poses a major issue
for farmers. There are also concerns that limiting food imports will lead to
food price inflation. After the 2015 foreign exchange ban on rice was
implemented, the price of a 50 kilogram bag of rice increased from
US$24 ($35) to US$82 ($120). While the price has now largely stabilised, it has
not yet reached pre-2015 lows. In June this year a 50kg bag of rice cost US$49
($72).
A strong agricultural sector could help reduce Nigeria’s
dependence on its oil sector and the government has made some inroads towards
that end. Current policies designed to end imports have not been especially
successful, however. Nigeria may be better off gradually limiting
imports, while simultaneously providing stronger support to farmers, encouraging
mechanisation and agricultural diversity and by improving off-farm
infrastructure.
Any
opinions or views expressed in this paper are those of the individual author,
unless stated to be those of Future Directions International.
Published
by Future Directions International Pty Ltd.
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5, 202 Hampden Road, Nedlands WA 6009, Australia.
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Climate change: Iceland holds funeral for
melted glacier
21 Aug 201921 August 2019
GETTY IMAGES
The glacier called Okjokull, is the first in the country to be
lost to climate change, after the warmest July ever on
record.
Iceland loses about 11 billion tonnes of ice per year, and
scientists have warned that there are about 400 other glaciers also at risk.
They fear all of the island's glaciers will be gone by 2200.
Glaciers cover about 11% of Iceland's surface.
The funeral was organised by local researchers and staff at Rice
University in the United States. But they were far from the only ones in
attendance.
The country's Prime Minister Katrin Jakobsdottir and former United
Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mary Robinson, were also there.
They were joined by hundreds of scientists, journalists and
members of the public who trekked to the site.
What happened to the Okjokull
glacier?
Glaciologists (scientists who study glaciers) stripped Okjokull of
its glacier status in 2014, a first for Iceland.
In 1890, the glacier ice covered 16 square kilometres (6.2 square
miles) but by 2012, it measured just 0.7 square kilometres, according to a
report from the University of Iceland from 2017.
To have the status of a glacier,
the mass of ice and snow must be thick enough to move by its own weight. For
that to happen the mass must be approximately 40 to 50 metres (130 to 165 feet)
thick, he said.
Organisers even put a bronze plaque on a rock at the site as part
of the a ceremony to remember the former glacier.
It is "the first monument to a glacier lost to climate change
anywhere in the world", Cymene Howe, associate professor of anthropology
at Rice University, said in July.
She added: "By memorialising a fallen glacier, we want to
emphasise what is being lost - or dying - the world over, and also draw
attention to the fact that this is something that humans have 'accomplished',
although it is not something we should be proud of."
EPA/NASA
This is the view of the glacier, also known as Ok from the Nasa
Space Observatory, in 1986 on the left and in 2019 on the right.
GETTY IMAGES
The plaque reads "A letter to the future" and is
intended to raise awareness about the decline of glaciers and the effects of
climate change.
It continues: "In the next 200 years all our glaciers are
expected to follow the same path. This monument is to acknowledge that we know
what is happening and what needs to be done. Only you know if we did it."
It is also labelled "415 ppm CO2", referring to the
record level of carbon dioxide measured in the atmosphere last May.
Julien Weiss, an aerodynamics professor at the University of
Berlin, went to the ceremony with his wife and seven-year-old daughter.
"Seeing a glacier disappear is something you can feel, you
can understand it and it's pretty visual," he said.
"You don't feel climate change daily, it's something that
happens very slowly on a human scale, but very quickly on a geological
scale."
Climate change activists were among those at the funeral
Prime Minister Jakobsdottir warned that, because a large part of
Iceland's renewable energy is produced in the glacial rivers, the disappearance
of the glaciers will affect the country's energy system.
He said: "I hope this ceremony will be an inspiration not
only to us here in Iceland but also for the rest of the world, because what we
are seeing here is just one face of the climate crisis."
According to a study published by
the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) in April, nearly half
of the world's heritage sites could lose their glaciers by 2100 if greenhouse
gas emissions continue at the current rate.
Editorial — No time to play
games: Trump administration subordinates climate change to politics
Aug 20, 2019
A
study released last year by the University of Washington warned that increased
levels of carbon dioxide predicted for the end of the century could diminish
the nutritional value of rice. Brian van der Brug/Los Angeles Times/Tribune
News Service
Brian van der Brug
President
Donald Trump has long had his head shoved in one of his sand traps on the
serious threat of global warming, and scientists within the federal government
have found it increasingly difficult to perform their jobs.
Mr.
Trump previously said that climate change was a “hoax” created by the Chinese.
Late last year, he admitted it wasn’t a fraud but said that global temperatures
will — after millions of years — “change back.” Even then, he said he wasn’t
sure climate change was caused by human activity.
The
overwhelming consensus among climate scientists is that we are driving this
change, which has already led to ominous consequences around the world. But the
Trump administration is playing politics with the future of our planet for
short-term gains. Some authorities on this issue are opposing the move the only
way they know how.
“One
of the nation’s leading climate change scientists is quitting the Agriculture
Department in protest over the Trump administration’s efforts to bury his
groundbreaking study about how rice is losing nutrients because of rising
levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Lewis Ziska, a 62-year-old plant
physiologist who’s worked at USDA’s Agricultural Research Service for more than
two decades, told Politico he was alarmed when department officials not only
questioned the findings of the study — which raised serious concerns for the
600 million people who depend on rice for most of their calories — but also
tried to minimize media coverage of the paper, which was published in the
journal Science Advances last year,” according to an Aug. 5 story posted
on Politico.com.
“The departure comes soon after several other government officials resigned
from their posts over accusations that the administration is censoring climate
science — reports that have raised alarm about scientific integrity in the
federal government. Last week, an intelligence analyst at the State Department
said he left his post after administration officials blocked his testimony to
Congress about the wide-ranging national security implications of climate
change. A National Park Service employee also stepped forward, alleging she
lost her job after refusing to scrub mentions of human-caused climate change
from a peer-reviewed paper that was set to publish. A Politico investigation
revealed last month that USDA has routinely buried its own climate-related
science and other work on climate change that continues. Politico also recently
reported USDA suppressed the release of its own plan for studying and
responding to climate change.”
Mr.
Ziska had a lead role in the research on rice conducted through the University
of Washington, according to an article by the Seattle Times published Aug. 15
in the Watertown Daily Times. Sharon Durham, a department public affairs
specialist with the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service, said in a May 7,
2018, email to Jeff Hodson, communications director for the UW School of Public
Health, that the “narrative isn’t supported by the data in the paper.” The USDA
opted not to issue a news release on the study.
“A
statement Durham released to Politico and later to the Seattle Times said the
concerns had nothing to do with the study’s focus on climate change,” according
to the Seattle Times story. “They came from career scientists, Durham wrote,
adding that no political appointees viewed the draft news release before the
decision was made not to send it out.”
However,
Mr. Ziska said nothing like this had ever occurred to him during his 26-year
tenure with the USDA. He left his post with the federal government and now works
at Columbia University.
The
USDA should have referenced the UW study in its news release. Including
questions about the research raised by ARS officials would have been
appropriate, but ignoring the work done was not. It’s another example of the
Trump administration trying to manipulate information to suit its political
goals, and we have too much at stake to allow this to continue.
New custom milling
policy to check graft
|
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Fatehgarh Sahib, August 20
The Food and
Civil Supply Department has decided to introduce stringent provisions in its
new custom milling policy to curb the corrupt practice of mixing cheap rice
smuggled from other states with the custom milled rice in Punjab.
The draft of the
policy would be put before the Cabinet for approval soon, said Bharat Bhushan
Ashu Minister for Food and Civil Supply. The Minister had come here to
distribute cards to the beneficiaries of the Sarbat Sehat Bima Yojana.
Claiming smugglers purchased cheap rice meant
for public distribution in Bihar, UP and MP and brought it to Punjab, Ashu said
they sold it to rice millers, who mixed it with the newly custom milled rice
and supplied it to the FCI. He said the smugglers had been causing great
financial loss to the state exchequer.
He said last
year raids were conducted against certain smugglers and some rice millers were
booked, but they managed to escape due in the absence of stringent provisions.
Answering a query regarding a promise made during elections to give dal, tea,
sugar and ghee to the beneficiaries along with wheat, he said the file of the
proposal had been sent to Finance Department for approval. — OC
Rice
prices still falling
Latest
data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showed consistent lower
prices for more than three months now after the Philippines opened its rice
industry to more private sector imports.
Rice
prices still falling
Louise Maureen Simeon (The Philippine Star) - July
8, 2019 - 12:00am
MANILA, Philippines — The price of rice remained on the downtrend,
with consumers saving more but farmers earning less following a new rice regime
in the country.
Latest data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showed
consistent lower prices for more than three months now after the Philippines
opened its rice industry to more private sector imports.
In its regular update on palay, rice and corn prices, PSA said the
average wholesale price of well-milled rice is now at P39.30 per kilogram as of
end-June, six percent lower than the P41.58 per kilo level from the same period
a year ago and 0.1 percent lower on a weekly basis.
Its average retail price also decreased 3.3 percent to P42.92 per
kilo.
Meanwhile, the wholesale price of regular-milled rice was P35.39
per kilo, down 7.4 percent while its average retail price was P38.56 a kilo.
While consumers are benefitting from the opening up of the market,
local farmers are suffering from declining palay farm gate prices.
The average farm gate price of palay continued to decrease to
P17.85 per kilo.
In all, the current price is a 17 percent drop from the P21.38 per
kilo last year when the rice liberalization has yet to become a law.
It is also lower than the P19.40 per kilo last March when the law
took effect.
The lower farm gate price is caused by the increased local harvest
and is exacerbated by imports flooding the commercial market.
Total rice inventory as of May stood at 2.94 million metric tons
(MT), 1.3 percent higher than last year’s volume stock of 2.91 million MT.
This is also 12.2 percent up from the previous month’s volume
stock of 2.63 million MT.
Under the rice tariffication law, quantitative restrictions on
rice importation are lifted and private traders are allowed to import the
commodity from countries of their choice.
The rice tariffication law replaced the government’s quantitative
restrictions on importation of the staple with a 35 percent tariff.
The measure also created the Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund
or a special rice buffer fund, with an initial P10-billion annual fund, to
ensure rice production competitiveness.
Arkansas farmers didn't
plant on 1.3 million acres this year
Tuesday, August 20th 2019
Arkansas
farmers didn't plan on 1.3 million acres this year due to heavy rainfall and
flooding. (Photo:jestermaroc from Pixabay)<p>{/p}
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — This spring's heavy rainfall and flooding left 1.3 million acres
(0.526 million hectares) of land unplanted in Arkansas.
The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
reports Lawrence County farmers saw nearly 74,000 idled acres (29,947 million
idled hectares).
Jerry Morgan is one of the
county's farmers who says his farm had more than 500 acres (202 million
hectares) of corn, rice and soybeans that he couldn't plant this year. He says
prevented planting insurance helps pay the bills, but it doesn't bring a farmer
to a break-even point.
Morgan says this year has been
"the hardest" both mentally and physically.
Arkansas is the nation's top rice
producer. It reported 510,000 acres (206,394 million hectares) of prevented
planting of the grain this year. The newspaper reports that rice not planted
amounts to about $420 million in lost sales.
Information from: Arkansas
Democrat-Gazette, http://www.arkansasonline.com
S. Korea remains hopeful to send food aid
to N. Korea before Sept.: official
FONT
SIZE
SEOUL, Aug. 20 (Yonhap) -- South
Korea remains hopeful of sending rice aid to North Korea before the end of
September even though Pyongyang has given no response yet to Seoul's aid offer,
a unification ministry official said Tuesday.
Seoul unveiled the plan to provide
50,000 tons of rice to North Korea in June through the World Food Programme to
help the impoverished country address its worsening food shortages. Its
original plan was to make the first shipment of the domestically harvested rice
in July and complete the delivery by September.
North Korea is reportedly refusing
to accept food assistance from South Korea, taking issue with Seoul's joint
military exercise with the United States. The ministry has been trying to
confirm the North's official stance ever since through the WFP that operates an
office in Pyongyang.
"It takes around three weeks
for the first shipment (of rice) to be ready for delivery," the ministry
official told reporters. "Given that, it is not the time to say that it is
too late to send (the rice) before the end of September.
"Our stance to provide help
from the perspective of fraternity love and humanitarianism remains unchanged.
We hope that consultations between the WFP and the North proceed in a
responsible and swift manner," he added.
South Korea's decision to provide
the food aid came amid a series of reports on the worsening food security
situation in North Korea.
The North has criticized Seoul for
conducting the joint military exercise with the U.S., which is to end later in
the day. Pyongyang earlier said that it has no intention to talk with South
Korea again and calling it a "senseless" hope to expect talks to
resume when Seoul's joint military exercise with Washington is over.
947 rice-producing towns to get
P5-million aid
Paolo Romero (The Philippine Star) - August 20, 2019 - 12:00am
MANILA, Philippines — Some 947
rice-producing towns in the country will receive P5 million worth of farm
equipment and machinery annually to assist farmers under the law creating the
Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund (RCEF), Sen. Cynthia Villar said
yesterday.
Villar, chairperson of the
committee on agriculture and food, said there is a P5-billion RCEF for the
procurement of farm equipment through the Philippine Center for Postharvest
Development and Mechanization (PhilMech), which will be divided among
rice-producing municipalities.
She said Republic Act 11203 or the
Rice Tariffication Law mandates programs designed to protect farmers and
improve their competitiveness, and the distribution of farm equipment such as
tillers, tractors, seeders, threshers, rice planters, harvesters and irrigation
pumps to eligible rice farmer associations and registered rice cooperatives.
The machinery will be used for land
preparation, crop establishment, harvesting and threshing, drying and milling.
In the absence of farmer associations, the local government unit will manage
and maintain the equipment.
“Mechanization of farm labor is our
solution in reducing the cost of producing palay in the country, which is
pegged at P12 per kilo compared to Vietnam, which produces a kilo of palay at
P6 only,” Villar said.
Experts have analyzed the cost
difference between two countries and found out the biggest difference of P3.40
as labor cost, according to the senator.
“We hope to bring down labor cost
through mechanization. Under the RCEF, our rice farmers will receive as
grant-in-aid P5 million worth of farm equipment annually for the next six
years. And they will be trained on how to operate and maintain them,” she
said.
The senator also disclosed that the
law also allocated P100 million to PhilMech to be used for training on farm
mechanization and farm machinery servicing and maintenance.
P1.5-B loan package welcomed
Meanwhile, Sen. Francis Pangilinan
yesterday welcomed the Department of Agriculture’s P1.5-billion loan package
for rice farmers affected by the influx of cheaper imports, but he said the
rice farmers had lost at least P60 billion and they need immediate cash
assistance.
“We thank Agriculture Secretary
William Dar for acting swiftly for the benefit of our farmers. This loan
package is a big help,” Pangilinan said.
“The blow of the Rice Tariffication
Law is so devastating that a one-time loan to farmers will definitely not
suffice. Our farmers need urgent cash assistance. They are suffering, we should
listen to their cry for help,” he added in Filipino.
Dar had announced that affected
rice farmers tilling at most one hectare of land may avail themselves of a
one-time, zero-interest loan amounting to P15,000 payable up to eight years
under the Expanded Survival and Recovery Assistance Program for Rice Farmers
(SURE Aid).
On the sidelines of a forum on
hybrid rice on Friday, Dar said SURE Aid, which will start on Sept. 1 this
year, will replace the P5,000 conditional cash transfer he had announced
earlier; the conditional cash transfer would cost the government about P6
billion to benefit about 1.1 million rice farmers.
One of Pangilinan’s proposals to
ease the suffering of rice farmers was for a P25,000 zero-interest loan under
SURE Aid.
Dar also said the National Food
Authority will buy the produce of rice farmers who would avail themselves of
the loan assistance under the SURE Aid program.
Nagpur
Foodgrain Prices Open- August 19, 2019
AUGUST 19, 2019 / 2:00 PM
* * * * * *
Nagpur Foodgrain Prices – APMC/Open Market-August 19, 2019 Nagpur,
Aug 19 (Reuters) – Gram and tuar prices reported down in Nagpur Agriculture
Produce and Marketing Committee (APMC) on poor buying support from local millers
amid good supply from producing belts. Fresh fall on NCDEX in gram, weak trend
in Madhya Pradesh pulses and high moisture content arrival also pushed down
prices. About 800 bags of gram and 100 bags of tuar reported for auction,
according to sources.
GRAM
* Desi gram recovered in open market here on good seasonal buying
support from local
traders.
TUAR
* Tuar varieties firmed up again in open market here on renewed
festival season
demand from local traders.
* Moong varieties zoomed up in open market here on increased
seasonal demand
from local traders.
* In Akola, Tuar New – 5,600-5,800, Tuar dal (clean) – 8,000-8,100,
Udid Mogar (clean)
– 7,200-7,800, Moong Mogar (clean) 7,800-8,600, Gram – 4,200-4,300,
Gram Super best
– 5,800-6,200 * Wheat, rice and other foodgrain items moved in a
narrow range in
scattered deals and settled at last levels in thin trading
activity.
Nagpur foodgrains APMC auction/open-market prices in rupees for 100
kg
FOODGRAINS Available prices Previous close
Gram Auction 3,800-4,300 3,900-4,420
Gram Pink Auction n.a. 2,100-2,600
Tuar Auction 5,200-5,450 5,200-5,500
Moong Auction n.a. 3,950-4,200
Udid Auction n.a. 4,300-4,500
Masoor Auction n.a. 2,200-2,500
Wheat Lokwan Auction 2,050-2,105 2,000-2,110
Wheat Sharbati Auction n.a. 2,900-3,000
Gram Super Best Bold 6,200-6,500 6,200-6,500
Gram Super Best n.a. n.a.
Gram Medium Best 5,800-6,000 5,800-6,000
Gram Dal Medium n.a. n.a
Gram Mill Quality 4,500-4,600 4,500-4,600
Desi gram Raw 4,500-4,600 4,450-4,550
Gram Kabuli 8,300-10,000 8,300-10,000
Tuar Fataka Best-New 8,600-8,700 8,400-8,500
Tuar Fataka Medium-New 8,100-8,300 8,000-8,250
Tuar Dal Best Phod-New 7,800-8,000 7,600-7,850
Tuar Dal Medium phod-New 7,200-7,600 7,200-7,500
Tuar Gavarani New 6,100-6,200 5,950-6,050
Tuar Karnataka 6,400-6,600 6,300-6,500
Masoor dal best 5,600-5,700 5,600-5,700
Masoor dal medium 5,100-5,300 5,100-5,300
Masoor n.a. n.a.
Moong Mogar bold (New) 8,500-9,200 8,300-8,900
Moong Mogar Medium 7,200-7,800 7,000-7,600
Moong dal Chilka New 6,600-7,800 6,500-7,500
Moong Mill quality n.a. n.a.
Moong Chamki best 8,800-9,400 8,500-9,000
Udid Mogar best (100 INR/KG) (New) 7,000-7,800 7,000-7,800
Udid Mogar Medium (100 INR/KG) 5,500-6,200 5,500-6,200
Udid Dal Black (100 INR/KG) 4,300-4,700 4,300-4,700
Mot (100 INR/KG) 5,500-6,500 5,500-6,500
Lakhodi dal (100 INR/kg) 4,800-5,000 4,800-5,000
Watana Dal (100 INR/KG) 5,600-5,700 5,600-5,700
Watana Green Best (100 INR/KG) 7,200-7,500 7,200-7,500
Wheat 308 (100 INR/KG) 2,200-2,300 2,200-2,300
Wheat Mill quality (100 INR/KG) 2,100-2,200 2,100-2,200
Wheat Filter (100 INR/KG) 2,600-2,700 2,600-2,700
Wheat Lokwan best (100 INR/KG) 2,500-2,650 2,500-2,650
Wheat Lokwan medium (100 INR/KG) 2,300-2,400 2,300-2,400
Lokwan Hath Binar (100 INR/KG) n.a. n.a.
MP Sharbati Best (100 INR/KG) 3,200-4,000 3,200-4,000
MP Sharbati Medium (100 INR/KG) 2,700-3,000 2,700-3,000
Rice Parmal (100 INR/KG) 2,200-2,300 2,200-2,300
Rice BPT best (100 INR/KG) 3,200-3,800 3,200-3,800
Rice BPT medium (100 INR/KG) 2,700-3,100 2,700-3,100
Rice Luchai (100 INR/KG) 2,900-3,000 2,900-3,000
Rice Swarna best (100 INR/KG) 2,600-2,750 2,600-2,750
Rice Swarna medium (100 INR/KG) 2,300-2,400 2,300-2,400
Rice Swarna new (100 INR/KG) 2,500-2,700 2,500-2,700
Rice HMT best (100 INR/KG) 3,800-4,400 3,800-4,400
Rice HMT medium (100 INR/KG) 3,400-3,600 3,400-3,600
Rice HMT new (100 INR/KG) 3,600-4,000 3,600-4,000
Rice Shriram best(100 INR/KG) 5,500-5,800 5,500-5,800
Rice Shriram med (100 INR/KG) 4,500-4,800 4,500-4,800
Rice Shriram new (100 INR/KG) 4,600-5,000 4,600-5,000
Rice Basmati best (100 INR/KG) 8,500-13,500 8,500-13,500
Rice Basmati Medium (100 INR/KG) 5,000-7,500 5,000-7,500
Rice Chinnor best 100 INR/KG) 6,500-7,200 6,500-7,200
Rice Chinnor medium (100 INR/KG) 6,200-6,400 6,200-6,400
Rice Chinnor new (100 INR/KG) 5,400-5,600 5,200-5,600
Jowar Gavarani (100 INR/KG) 2,350-2,550 2,350-2,550
Jowar CH-5 (100 INR/KG) 2,050-2,250 2,050-2,250 WEATHER (NAGPUR)
Maximum temp. 34.0 degree Celsius, minimum temp. 24.7 degree Celsius Rainfall :
Nil FORECAST: Generally cloudy sky with few spells of rains or thunder-showers.
Maximum and minimum temperature likely to be around 33 degree Celsius and 25
degree Celsius respectively. Note: n.a.—not available (For oils, transport
costs are excluded from plant delivery prices, but included in market prices)
Over $100m
earned from export of 400,000 tons of broken rice in 10 months
PUBLISHED 20
AUGUST 2019
ZEYAR
NYEIN
Myanmar
exported over 400,000 tons of broken rice worth over US$100 million to 36
countries over the past 10 months with 50 percent of the total tonnage going to
Belgium, according to Myanmar Rice Federation.
From
October 1, 2018 to August 2 this year, 400,689 tons of broken rice was exported
to 36 countries earning US$107.147 million.
Belgium
alone imported nearly 190,000 tons of broken rice from Myanmar worth US$50.547
million, accounting for over 47 percent of the total export.
Likewise, 68,000 tons of broken rice worth over US$18 million was
exported to Indonesia, over 25,000 tons worth US$6 million to China, nearly
23,000 tons worth US$5 million to the Netherlands, and over 20,000 tons worth
over US$5 million to the United Kingdom.
An official
from the Ministry of Commerce said Myanmar exported over 1.97 million tons of
rice and broken rice worth about US$600 million in over 10 months of this
fiscal year from October 1 to August 2. This year saw a fall of over US$350
million as the total tonnage fell by over 820,000 tons. China and EU,
major rice export markets, purchased less rice from Myanmar this
year.
Paddy
Procurement: Haor farmers still deprived of fair price
12:00
AM, August 20, 2019 /
LAST
MODIFIED: 03:20 AM, August 20, 2019
Middlemen, crooked local officials are to blame, allege the
growers
Some
farmers stuffing paddy into sacks to sell it to middlemen in a haor area of
Sunamganj’s Bishwambhapur upazila recently. These middlemen are allegedly using
farmers’ cards to supply paddy to the local food office, depriving the
marginalised growers in the haor area of fair prices for their produce. Photo:
Mintu Deshwara
Despite different initiatives, most
of the paddy farmers in Sunamganj are not benefitting from the government’s
ongoing food procurement programme allegedly because of the actions of
middlemen and lack of monitoring.
While only a minority of farmers
(less than seven percent of the total number) are eligible to sell paddy, many
middlemen are using fake farmer cards or allegedly resorting to foul play,
depriving genuine farmers. But nobody is watching this, the farmers alleged.
This year the government is buying
one maund of paddy for Tk 1,040. But most farmers are not in the government
list. As a result, they are being forced to sell their produce in the open
market at Tk 520-650 per maund.
To ensure the fair price, the
government came up with different initiatives including announcing a 20 percent
incentive on rice export so that businessmen buy more paddy from farmers and
export more. In addition, the government raised its paddy procurement target
from 1.5 lakh tonnes to 4 lakh tonnes from across the country.
Still most farmers do not get the
benefit.
In Sunamganj, 3.84 lakh farmers
have produced 13.18 lakh tonnes of paddy this boro season, but the
government will procure only 17,353 tonnes from 25,000 farmers, according to
the district food office and Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE).
The government will also buy 31,977
tonnes of rice from 300 millers.
Procurement will continue till
August 31.
HOW FARMERS ARE
SELECTED
First of all, representatives of
local government bodies like union parishads prepare a list of farmers. Then
the local DAE office arranges lotteries and selects the farmers from whom the
government would procure paddy.
Ashish Kumar Roy, food officer in
Shalla upazila, said it was not possible to buy paddy from all the farmers. For
example, 6,619 farmers in the upazila applied to sell paddy to the government,
but only 912 were selected through lottery.
However, farmers alleged that there
was some foul play involved, which favours people associated with the ruling
party.
Khairul Bashar Thakur Khan, legal
affairs secretary of the central committee of Krishak Sangram Samity, said the
government officials are favouring the ruling party men in the name of lottery,
and thus depriving real farmers.
Middlemen are also playing a role
in depriving farmers of their profits.
Mohammad Ali, a member of North
Baradal Union Parishad of Tahirpur upazila, said farmer Abdul Malek of
Brahmangaon village died three years ago, but a middleman sold paddy using the
dead man’s farmer card. This is one of many instances of how middlemen, who are
locally influential, use fake cards, he said.
WHAT HAPPENS TO
MOST FARMERS
Visiting Madhaynagar rice market in
Dharmapasha upazila, the biggest rice wholesale market of Sunamganj, this
correspondent found that rice mill owners were buying paddy directly from
farmers.
Kamrul Islam, a farmer from Karchar
Haor in Bishwambhapur upazila, said, “I’m selling paddy here for Tk 550-650 per
maund because I was not selected in the government’s lottery. I may give up
paddy cultivation in the future.”
Only eight out of 190 farmers in
his village made it to the final list through lottery, he said, adding that
they got the fair price, but the rest did not.
Farmer Swapan Kumar Barman of
Bishwambhapur said most farmers of his village took bank loans for paddy
cultivation. Since they are not getting fair price, they do not know how they
would repay the loans. “One maund of paddy is not worth even 1kg of hilsa. How
can we survive?” he asked.
Jyotirmoy Roy, a rice trader and
president of Madhyanagar Dhan Arotdar Samity, said, “We are buying paddy at Tk
540-680 per maund as farmers are desperate to sell their paddy for survival.”
Bazlul Majid Chowdhury Khasru,
president of Haor Bachao Sunamganj Bachao Andolon, claimed that farmers were
forced to sell paddy to middlemen at a lower price due to the lack of
government’s monitoring and proper initiatives.
The government has so far bought
9,444 tonnes of paddy and 16,496 tonnes of rice till yesterday (August 19) in
Sunamganj, according to the district food controller.
Contacted, Sunamganj District Food
Controller Zakaria Mostafa said DAE enlisted the farmers under supervision of
local UP chairmen and the upazila executive officers.
“We cannot verify who is a middleman
or who is a farmer. We collect paddy only after seeing the farmer card. None of
us is involved in irregularities,” he said.
When told that they have procured
only 50 percent of the target since April, he said, “We will apply for an
extension of the procurement period.”Md Safar Uddin, deputy director of local
DAE office, also denied the allegation of irregularities.
Govt should tread carefully before liberalising rice
industry, says report
The whole chain of domestic paddy industry must
first be strengthened if there is any move to liberalise the sector
By AFIQ AZIZ / Pic By MUHD AMIN NAHARUL
A recent research report warned of the implications of
liberalising the import of rice in a fragile midstream ecosystem, the absence
of social net to help paddy growers and the ramifications to the country’s
stockpile.
A report by Khazanah Research Institute (KRI)
revealed that the whole chain of domestic paddy industry must first be
strengthened if there is any move to liberalise the sector or to abandon the
single importer model.
KRI, in the report titled “The Status of the
Paddy and Rice Industry in Malaysia”, said Padiberas Nasional Bhd (Bernas)
plays a key caretaker role in the midstream segment which the report suggested
that there “is distrust between millers and farmers”.
The report said Bernas is also responsible to
take in any excess of paddy produced, known as Buyer of Last Resort (BOLR), at
the guaranteed minimum price (GMP) of RM1,200 per tonne to protect the rice
growers.
“If private millers refuse to purchase the
grains, usually for not meeting the quality standards needed, farmers can sell
to Bernas,” said the report which was released last week.
“Besides importing rice from other countries
and distributing them to wholesalers, Bernas also procures paddy from local
farmers and millers, and then markets them.
“This procurement is not only part of its
commercial interest, but also of its social obligations to be the BOLR,” the
report said.
The report suggested that Bernas had no choice
but to purchase the paddy, irrespective of the quality.
The report also said in the event of no or
insufficient private millers in certain paddy planted areas, Bernas still has
to carry the same task although at a loss.
“For example, due to the GMP standardisation
exercise in 2014, many millers were forced to shut down in Kelantan. As a
result, Bernas, due to its social obligation as a BOLR, had to buy paddy from
farmers in Kelantan, regardless of the quality.
“The second instance is when the private
millers have met their daily drying capacity during peak harvesting seasons. In
the past, all these purchases were done based on the market price, above the
GMP,” it said.
“Due to the long-standing social obligations of
Bernas, the domestic paddy industry must first be strengthened before attempts
are made to change Bernas’ role, including its exclusive rights to import
rice,” the report said.
Bernas’ monopoly has been in the limelight over
suggestion that the government should abolish monopolies in Malaysia, including
Bernas’ role as the caretaker of the country’s rice imports.
Certain parties had claimed that Bernas has the
monopoly over the sector.
Known as “Single Gate Keeper Mechanism”, Bernas
inherited the policy from the government’s National Paddy and Rice Board (LPN)
to ensure sufficient supply and prices are capped at a low price.
The KRI report also suggested that high market
share does not automatically constitute a monopoly or abuse of dominant power.
“Bernas does not have the power to set the
price for rice, which is determined by the government through ceiling prices,”
it said, adding that Bernas is also tasked to managing national rice stockpile,
which now stands at 150,000 tonnes compared to only 92,000 tonnes prior to 2008
crisis.
“Understanding Bernas’ operations,
effectiveness, relevance and effects on the industry is a complex exercise and
care is needed when determining policies affecting this company,” the report
said.
In 2008, the price of rice rose more than 250%
from about US$300 to US$1,000 (RM4,110) per tonne, forcing consumers in many
countries to pay higher prices.
However, Malaysians only paid not more than RM3
for every 1kg of rice due to the price mechanism implemented by the government.
Bernas had to bear the price difference for rice imports as selling prices are
determined by the government.
Industry observers also warned of a possible
repeat of the 2008 rice hike and importers’ reluctance to bring the staple food
due to the losses to be incurred by these traders, if the single importer model
is abandoned.
In 1974, due to the world food crisis, the LPN
had been made the sole rice importer and the country’s gatekeeper. The move
then is said was due to the reluctance of some importers to import rice due to
the high price.
Paddy
Procurement: Haor farmers still deprived of fair price
12:00
AM, August 20, 2019 / LAST MODIFIED: 03:20 AM, August 20, 2019
Middlemen, crooked local officials are to blame, allege the
growers
Some
farmers stuffing paddy into sacks to sell it to middlemen in a haor area of
Sunamganj’s Bishwambhapur upazila recently. These middlemen are allegedly using
farmers’ cards to supply paddy to the local food office, depriving the
marginalised growers in the haor area of fair prices for their produce. Photo:
Mintu Deshwara
Despite different initiatives, most
of the paddy farmers in Sunamganj are not benefitting from the government’s
ongoing food procurement programme allegedly because of the actions of
middlemen and lack of monitoring.
While only a minority of farmers
(less than seven percent of the total number) are eligible to sell paddy, many
middlemen are using fake farmer cards or allegedly resorting to foul play,
depriving genuine farmers. But nobody is watching this, the farmers alleged.
This year the government is buying
one maund of paddy for Tk 1,040. But most farmers are not in the government
list. As a result, they are being forced to sell their produce in the open
market at Tk 520-650 per maund.
To ensure the fair price, the
government came up with different initiatives including announcing a 20 percent
incentive on rice export so that businessmen buy more paddy from farmers and
export more. In addition, the government raised its paddy procurement target
from 1.5 lakh tonnes to 4 lakh tonnes from across the country.
Still most farmers do not get the
benefit.
In Sunamganj, 3.84 lakh farmers
have produced 13.18 lakh tonnes of paddy this boro season, but the
government will procure only 17,353 tonnes from 25,000 farmers, according to
the district food office and Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE).
The government will also buy 31,977
tonnes of rice from 300 millers.
Procurement will continue till
August 31.
HOW FARMERS ARE
SELECTED
First of all, representatives of
local government bodies like union parishads prepare a list of farmers. Then
the local DAE office arranges lotteries and selects the farmers from whom the
government would procure paddy.
Ashish Kumar Roy, food officer in
Shalla upazila, said it was not possible to buy paddy from all the farmers. For
example, 6,619 farmers in the upazila applied to sell paddy to the government,
but only 912 were selected through lottery.
However, farmers alleged that there
was some foul play involved, which favours people associated with the ruling
party.
Khairul Bashar Thakur Khan, legal
affairs secretary of the central committee of Krishak Sangram Samity, said the
government officials are favouring the ruling party men in the name of lottery,
and thus depriving real farmers.
Middlemen are also playing a role
in depriving farmers of their profits.
Mohammad Ali, a member of North
Baradal Union Parishad of Tahirpur upazila, said farmer Abdul Malek of
Brahmangaon village died three years ago, but a middleman sold paddy using the
dead man’s farmer card. This is one of many instances of how middlemen, who are
locally influential, use fake cards, he said.
WHAT HAPPENS TO
MOST FARMERS
Visiting Madhaynagar rice market in
Dharmapasha upazila, the biggest rice wholesale market of Sunamganj, this
correspondent found that rice mill owners were buying paddy directly from
farmers.
Kamrul Islam, a farmer from Karchar
Haor in Bishwambhapur upazila, said, “I’m selling paddy here for Tk 550-650 per
maund because I was not selected in the government’s lottery. I may give up
paddy cultivation in the future.”
Only eight out of 190 farmers in
his village made it to the final list through lottery, he said, adding that
they got the fair price, but the rest did not.
Farmer Swapan Kumar Barman of
Bishwambhapur said most farmers of his village took bank loans for paddy
cultivation. Since they are not getting fair price, they do not know how they
would repay the loans. “One maund of paddy is not worth even 1kg of hilsa. How
can we survive?” he asked.
Jyotirmoy Roy, a rice trader and
president of Madhyanagar Dhan Arotdar Samity, said, “We are buying paddy at Tk
540-680 per maund as farmers are desperate to sell their paddy for survival.”
Bazlul Majid Chowdhury Khasru,
president of Haor Bachao Sunamganj Bachao Andolon, claimed that farmers were
forced to sell paddy to middlemen at a lower price due to the lack of
government’s monitoring and proper initiatives.
The government has so far bought
9,444 tonnes of paddy and 16,496 tonnes of rice till yesterday (August 19) in
Sunamganj, according to the district food controller.
Contacted, Sunamganj District Food
Controller Zakaria Mostafa said DAE enlisted the farmers under supervision of
local UP chairmen and the upazila executive officers.
“We cannot verify who is a
middleman or who is a farmer. We collect paddy only after seeing the farmer
card. None of us is involved in irregularities,” he said.
When told that they have procured
only 50 percent of the target since April, he said, “We will apply for an
extension of the procurement period.”Md Safar Uddin, deputy director of local
DAE office, also denied the allegation of irregularities.
Nagpur Foodgrain Prices Open- August 21,
2019
AUGUST 21, 2019 / 1:39 PM
* * * * * *
Nagpur Foodgrain Prices – APMC/Open Market-August 21, 2019 Nagpur,
Aug 21 (Reuters) – Gram and tuar prices reported higher in Nagpur Agriculture
Produce and Marketing Committee (APMC) on good festival season demand from
local millers amid tight supply from producing belts. Healthy rise in Madhya
Pradesh gram prices and reported demand from South-based millers also jacked up
prices. About 1,150 bags of gram and 150 bags of tuar reported for auction,
according to sources.
GRAM
* Desi gram prices recovered in open market on increased buying
support from local
traders.
TUAR
* Tuar Karnataka firmed up in open market here on renewed demand
from local traders.
* New rice varieties prices reported down in open market here on
poor demand
from local traders.
* In Akola, Tuar New – 5,600-5,800, Tuar dal (clean) – 8,000-8,100,
Udid Mogar (clean)
– 7,200-7,800, Moong Mogar (clean) 8,000-8,900, Gram – 4,200-4,300,
Gram Super best
– 5,800-6,200 * Wheat, other varieties of rice and other foodgrain
items moved in a narrow range in
scattered deals and settled at last levels in thin trading
activity.
Nagpur foodgrains APMC auction/open-market prices in rupees for 100
kg
FOODGRAINS Available prices Previous close
Gram Auction 3,800-4,500 3,800-4,350
Gram Pink Auction n.a. 2,100-2,600
Tuar Auction 5,100-5,725 5,100-5,600
Moong Auction n.a. 3,950-4,200
Udid Auction n.a. 4,300-4,500
Masoor Auction n.a. 2,200-2,500
Wheat Lokwan Auction 2,000-2,106 2,000-2,115
Wheat Sharbati Auction n.a. 2,900-3,000
Gram Super Best Bold 6,200-6,500 6,200-6,500
Gram Super Best n.a. n.a.
Gram Medium Best 5,800-6,000 5,800-6,000
Gram Dal Medium n.a. n.a
Gram Mill Quality 4,500-4,600 4,500-4,600
Desi gram Raw 4,550-4,650 4,500-4,600
Gram Kabuli 8,300-10,000 8,300-10,000
Tuar Fataka Best-New 8,600-8,700 8,600-8,700
Tuar Fataka Medium-New 8,100-8,300 8,100-8,300
Tuar Dal Best Phod-New 7,800-8,000 7,800-8,000
Tuar Dal Medium phod-New 7,200-7,600 7,200-7,600
Tuar Gavarani New 6,100-6,200 5,100-6,200
Tuar Karnataka 6,450-6,650 6,400-6,600
Masoor dal best 5,600-5,700 5,600-5,700
Masoor dal medium 5,100-5,300 5,100-5,300
Masoor n.a. n.a.
Moong Mogar bold (New) 8,500-9,000 8,500-9,000
Moong Mogar Medium 7,200-7,800 7,200-7,800
Moong dal Chilka New 6,600-7,800 6,600-7,800
Moong Mill quality n.a. n.a.
Moong Chamki best 8,800-9,400 8,800-9,400
Udid Mogar best (100 INR/KG) (New) 7,000-7,800 7,000-7,800
Udid Mogar Medium (100 INR/KG) 5,500-6,200 5,500-6,200
Udid Dal Black (100 INR/KG) 4,300-4,700 4,300-4,700
Mot (100 INR/KG) 5,500-6,500 5,500-6,500
Lakhodi dal (100 INR/kg) 4,800-5,000 4,800-5,000
Watana Dal (100 INR/KG) 5,700-5,900 5,700-5,900
Watana Green Best (100 INR/KG) 7,500-8,000 7,500-8,000
Wheat 308 (100 INR/KG) 2,200-2,300 2,200-2,300
Wheat Mill quality (100 INR/KG) 2,100-2,200 2,100-2,200
Wheat Filter (100 INR/KG) 2,600-2,700 2,600-2,700
Wheat Lokwan best (100 INR/KG) 2,500-2,650 2,500-2,650
Wheat Lokwan medium (100 INR/KG) 2,300-2,400 2,300-2,400
Lokwan Hath Binar (100 INR/KG) n.a. n.a.
MP Sharbati Best (100 INR/KG) 3,200-4,000 3,200-4,000
MP Sharbati Medium (100 INR/KG) 2,700-3,000 2,700-3,000
Rice Parmal (100 INR/KG) 2,200-2,300 2,200-2,300
Rice BPT best (100 INR/KG) 3,200-3,800 3,200-3,800
Rice BPT medium (100 INR/KG) 2,800-3,200 2,900-3,200
Rice Luchai (100 INR/KG) 2,900-3,000 2,900-3,000
Rice Swarna best (100 INR/KG) 2,600-2,750 2,600-2,750
Rice Swarna medium (100 INR/KG) 2,300-2,400 2,300-2,400
Rice Swarna new (100 INR/KG) 2,400-2,600 2,500-2,700
Rice HMT best (100 INR/KG) 3,800-4,400 3,800-4,400
Rice HMT medium (100 INR/KG) 3,400-3,600 3,400-3,600
Rice HMT new (100 INR/KG) 3,600-4,000 3,600-4,000
Rice Shriram best(100 INR/KG) 5,500-5,800 5,500-5,800
Rice Shriram med (100 INR/KG) 4,500-4,800 4,500-4,800
Rice Shriram new (100 INR/KG) 4,400-5,000 4,500-5,000
Rice Basmati best (100 INR/KG) 8,500-13,500 8,500-13,500
Rice Basmati Medium (100 INR/KG) 5,000-7,500 5,000-7,500
Rice Chinnor best 100 INR/KG) 6,500-7,200 6,500-7,200
Rice Chinnor medium (100 INR/KG) 6,200-6,400 6,200-6,400
Rice Chinnor new (100 INR/KG) 5,300-5,600 5,200-5,600
Jowar Gavarani (100 INR/KG) 2,350-2,550 2,350-2,550
Jowar CH-5 (100 INR/KG) 2,050-2,250 2,050-2,250 WEATHER (NAGPUR)
Maximum temp. 32.5 degree Celsius, minimum temp. 24.3 degree Celsius Rainfall :
Nil FORECAST: Generally cloudy sky with a few spells of rains or
thunder-showers. Maximum and minimum temperature likely to be around 33 degree
Celsius and 24 degree Celsius respectively. Note: n.a.—not available (For oils,
transport costs are excluded from plant delivery prices, but included in market
prices)
Nagpur
Foodgrain Prices Open- August 20, 2019
AUGUST 20, 2019 / 1:37 PM
* * * * * *
Nagpur Foodgrain Prices – APMC/Open Market-August 20, 2019 Nagpur,
Aug 20 (Reuters) – Gram and tuar prices firmed up again in Nagpur Agriculture
Produce and Marketing Committee (APMC) on increased demand from local millers
amid thin supply from producing regions because of rains. Fresh hike on NCDEX,
good recovery in Madhya Pradesh gram prices and enquiries from South-based
millers also boosted prices. About 700 bags of gram and 150 bags of tuar
reported for auction, according to sources.
GRAM
* Gram varieties ruled steady in open market here but demand was
poor.
TUAR
* Tuar gavarani recovered further in open market here on renewed
festival season
demand from local traders.
* Watana varieties reported strong in open market here on good
seasonal demand
from local traders.
* In Akola, Tuar New – 5,600-5,800, Tuar dal (clean) – 8,000-8,100,
Udid Mogar (clean)
– 7,200-7,800, Moong Mogar (clean) 8,000-8,900, Gram – 4,200-4,300,
Gram Super best
– 5,800-6,200 * Wheat, rice and other foodgrain items moved in a narrow
range in
scattered deals and settled at last levels in thin trading
activity.
Nagpur foodgrains APMC auction/open-market prices in rupees for 100
kg
FOODGRAINS Available prices Previous close
Gram Auction 3,800-4,340 3,800-4,280
Gram Pink Auction n.a. 2,100-2,600
Tuar Auction 5,200-5,600 5,200-5,450
Moong Auction n.a. 3,950-4,200
Udid Auction n.a. 4,300-4,500
Masoor Auction n.a. 2,200-2,500
Wheat Lokwan Auction 2,050-2,115 2,030-2,105
Wheat Sharbati Auction n.a. 2,900-3,000
Gram Super Best Bold 6,200-6,500 6,200-6,500
Gram Super Best n.a. n.a.
Gram Medium Best 5,800-6,000 5,800-6,000
Gram Dal Medium n.a. n.a
Gram Mill Quality 4,500-4,600 4,500-4,600
Desi gram Raw 4,500-4,600 4,500-4,600
Gram Kabuli 8,300-10,000 8,300-10,000
Tuar Fataka Best-New 8,600-8,700 8,600-8,700
Tuar Fataka Medium-New 8,100-8,300 8,100-8,300
Tuar Dal Best Phod-New 7,800-8,000 7,800-8,000
Tuar Dal Medium phod-New 7,200-7,600 7,200-7,600
Tuar Gavarani New 6,100-6,200 5,100-6,200
Tuar Karnataka 6,400-6,600 6,400-6,600
Masoor dal best 5,600-5,700 5,600-5,700
Masoor dal medium 5,100-5,300 5,100-5,300
Masoor n.a. n.a.
Moong Mogar bold (New) 8,500-9,000 8,500-9,000
Moong Mogar Medium 7,200-7,800 7,200-7,800
Moong dal Chilka New 6,600-7,800 6,600-7,800
Moong Mill quality n.a. n.a.
Moong Chamki best 8,800-9,400 8,800-9,400
Udid Mogar best (100 INR/KG) (New) 7,000-7,800 7,000-7,800
Udid Mogar Medium (100 INR/KG) 5,500-6,200 5,500-6,200
Udid Dal Black (100 INR/KG) 4,300-4,700 4,300-4,700
Mot (100 INR/KG) 5,500-6,500 5,500-6,500
Lakhodi dal (100 INR/kg) 4,800-5,000 4,800-5,000
Watana Dal (100 INR/KG) 5,700-5,900 5,600-5,700
Watana Green Best (100 INR/KG) 7,500-8,000 7,200-7,800
Wheat 308 (100 INR/KG) 2,200-2,300 2,200-2,300
Wheat Mill quality (100 INR/KG) 2,100-2,200 2,100-2,200
Wheat Filter (100 INR/KG) 2,600-2,700 2,600-2,700
Wheat Lokwan best (100 INR/KG) 2,500-2,650 2,500-2,650
Wheat Lokwan medium (100 INR/KG) 2,300-2,400 2,300-2,400
Lokwan Hath Binar (100 INR/KG) n.a. n.a.
MP Sharbati Best (100 INR/KG) 3,200-4,000 3,200-4,000
MP Sharbati Medium (100 INR/KG) 2,700-3,000 2,700-3,000
Rice Parmal (100 INR/KG) 2,200-2,300 2,200-2,300
Rice BPT best (100 INR/KG) 3,200-3,800 3,200-3,800
Rice BPT medium (100 INR/KG) 2,700-3,100 2,700-3,100
Rice Luchai (100 INR/KG) 2,900-3,000 2,900-3,000
Rice Swarna best (100 INR/KG) 2,600-2,750 2,600-2,750
Rice Swarna medium (100 INR/KG) 2,300-2,400 2,300-2,400
Rice Swarna new (100 INR/KG) 2,500-2,700 2,500-2,700
Rice HMT best (100 INR/KG) 3,800-4,400 3,800-4,400
Rice HMT medium (100 INR/KG) 3,400-3,600 3,400-3,600
Rice HMT new (100 INR/KG) 3,600-4,000 3,600-4,000
Rice Shriram best(100 INR/KG) 5,500-5,800 5,500-5,800
Rice Shriram med (100 INR/KG) 4,500-4,800 4,500-4,800
Rice Shriram new (100 INR/KG) 4,600-5,000 4,600-5,000
Rice Basmati best (100 INR/KG) 8,500-13,500 8,500-13,500
Rice Basmati Medium (100 INR/KG) 5,000-7,500 5,000-7,500
Rice Chinnor best 100 INR/KG) 6,500-7,200 6,500-7,200
Rice Chinnor medium (100 INR/KG) 6,200-6,400 6,200-6,400
Rice Chinnor new (100 INR/KG) 5,400-5,600 5,200-5,600
Jowar Gavarani (100 INR/KG) 2,350-2,550 2,350-2,550
Jowar CH-5 (100 INR/KG) 2,050-2,250 2,050-2,250 WEATHER (NAGPUR)
Maximum temp. 33.8 degree Celsius, minimum temp. 23.1 degree Celsius Rainfall :
38.4 mm FORECAST: Generally cloudy sky with a few spells of rains or
thunder-showers. Maximum and minimum temperature likely to be around 32 degree
Celsius and 23 degree Celsius respectively. Note: n.a.—not available (For oils,
transport costs are excluded from plant delivery prices, but included in market
prices)
Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Bangladeshi rice growers suffer heavy
losses
14
August 2019
Bangladeshi farmers will suffer but national reserves
of rice will soften blow to rice stocks. © Mamunur Rashid/NurPhoto via Getty
Images
Flooding has wiped out some 400,000
tonnes of rice in Bangladesh, the country's Department of Agriculture has
warned.
Flash floods and landslides have been impacting infrastructure and
displacing communities since the monsoon season began in June. These
have damaged crops in the northern region of Bangladesh and affected more
than six million people in the country.
Bangladesh is heavily reliant on imports from other rice producers
in the region, such as India and Thailand, during natural disasters.
Mir Nurul Alam, director general at the Department of Agricultural
Extension, told Reuters last week that the
damage to the rice crop will cause a “huge loss for the farmers”.
However, he added that, due to national reserves, the shortage is
unlikely to have much of an “impact on the overall rice stocks”.
In response to the recent flooding, Dr Abdur Razzaque, agriculture
minister, said that the government has contributed 638 million taka ($7.5
million) in emergency aid for farmers in flood-hit areas.
"We have taken a slew of measures to ensure fair prices for
the farmers ... instructions have been given to (district officials) to buy
rice directly from farmers," he commented.
A farm rehabilitation plan is also underway to provide free seed
and fertilizer to farmers for the next crop season.
Razzaque visited affected areas in the Manikganj district, in
central Bangladesh, last month, and distributed relief supplies to the flood
victims.
The blow to the rice crop comes as growers are already under
pressure, with farmers finding it difficult to get good prices for their crop.
This is mainly due to a surplus of rice because of high rice imports and the
lack of overseas trade as a result of a ban on rice exports.
In May, Bangladesh virtually doubled its rice import duty, raising
it from 28% to 55%. It also lifted the export ban to help support domestic
farmers.
Bangladesh is estimated to be the world’s fourth-biggest rice
producer with nearly 35 million tonnes produced each year.
However, the country has struggled to get overseas deals since the
export ban was lifted because its rice is more expensive than that of India or
Thailand.
Government
Chemist and IGFS visit Ghana
Selvarani and Professor Elliott with Professor Alex Dodoo,
Director General of the Ghana Food Standards Authority (second from left)
Selvarani Elahi, Deputy Government Chemist and Professor Chris Elliott, founder
of the Institute for Global Food
Security at Queen’s University,
Belfast were invited by Dr Ernest Teye of the University of Cape Coast to attend the Ghana Science Association conference and a
workshop on rice integrity and managing food fraud during 30 July – 2 August
2019.
Selvarani Elahi gave a presentation on the Food Authenticity Network, highlighting the benefits of Ghana joining this one-stop-shop
for food authenticity testing and food fraud mitigation in the global fight
against food fraud.
Professor Elliott delivered the keynote speech at the Ghana Science Association conference informing the audience of the concept of food fraud, giving local examples and demonstrating the negative impact of fraud.
Professor Elliott delivered the keynote speech at the Ghana Science Association conference informing the audience of the concept of food fraud, giving local examples and demonstrating the negative impact of fraud.
ATL FM 100.5 MHz Radio interviewed Selvarani and Chris on ‘food
fraud and authenticity’, which can be viewed on ATL’s Facebook page.
During the course of the week, meetings were also held with the
Director General of the Ghana Standards Authority and the Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Food and Drugs Authority.
Mimi Darko, Chief Executive
Officer of the Ghana Food and Drugs Authority (third from right, front row)
Given the recent report of the meeting by the Transnational Alliance to Combat
Illicit Trade (TRACIT) and the United Nations Conference on Trade and
Development (UNCTAD) on the negative impact of illicit trade on the UN
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), both Professor Alex Dodoo and Mimi Darko
were keen to implement projects aimed at improving the integrity of Ghanaian
food.
They stated their commitment for
Ghana, as the ‘gateway to Africa’, to be the first African nation to join the
Food Authenticity Network.
PTI's one year: Fixing how we deal with the climate crisis
The planet is going to hell in a hand-basket and no
one in Pakistan seems to care beyond a broad policy discourse.
Something is wrong with how we
approach the climate crisis in Pakistan. Being wrong on the climate is picking
a fight against nature: one that will have severe consequences for us and our
children.
I was in Islamabad in late
November 2018 for an event hosted by LEAD Pakistan, Pakistan at Global Warming of
1.5°C – 2 °C: Capturing Opportunities and Managing Challenges. Dr Ghulam Rasul, formerly the director general of the Pakistan
Meteorological Department and now the regional program manager of the Mountain
Environment Regional Information System at the International Center for
Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), gave a presentation of his latest
research on the impacts of climate change in the Himalayan, Karakoram and Hindu
Kush mountain ranges. It was a startling preview of the mammoth ICIMOD Hindu Khush Himalaya Assessment Report.
Dr Rasul reported that the glaciers in these mountain ranges were extremely
sensitive to climate change — more sensitive than previously thought. According
to his report, even if we somehow miraculously manage to stop using fossil fuel
today and keep global warming within the 1.5 degree Celsius of pre-industrial
levels by the end of this century under the Paris Agreement, these glaciers
could lose as much as 36 per cent of their volume. And if we can somehow
miraculously confine ourselves to a temperature increase of no more than 2°C
under the Kyoto Protocol, these glaciers stand to lose about 50pc of their
volume.
At present, we stand a 10pc chance of overshooting this century’s 1.5°C target
in just the next five years. This handy Climate Clock tracks global warming to date and counts down how much
time we have left. But some business-as-usual models predict temperatures rising as much
as 4-6°C by the end of 2100.There will be no Himalayan, Karakoram and Hindu
Kush glaciers left to melt by then.
The climate crisis is a death
foretold: not just a crime against the earth — an ecocide — but also a genocide
of the people of these mountain ranges. With no glaciers, no ice, an entire way
of life will collapse. To give this a sense of scale, in the rather
gloomy The Uninhabitable Earth David Wallace-Wells quotes from the work of Dr Drew Schindell and
team that an increase in temperatures from 1.5°C to 2°C could result in as many
as a 150 million deaths worldwide. There will be mass starvation and in the
countries (like ours) with coal-based energy and filthy fuels, the toxic air
will kill tens of millions. Let that sink in
Then there are wildfires in the
Arctic, never experienced in our planet’s history. We’ve crossed 400 parts per million carbon concentration in the
atmosphere. The last time carbon concentrations were this high was over 800,000
years ago. There was 95pc species extinction then.
The climate crisis is here, and
the scientists at the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
(IPCC) tell us that we have until 2030 to get things right. According to the UN: “Without
increased and urgent mitigation ambition in the coming years, leading to a
sharp decline in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, global warming will surpass
1.5°C in the following decades, leading to irreversible loss of the most
fragile ecosystems, and crisis after crisis for the most vulnerable people and
societies.”
We know that Pakistan is
vulnerable to the climate crisis. It’s not just the glaciers melting or floods
from erratic monsoons that we have to worry about. There are nearly a dozen
distinct ecosystems in Pakistan, from the mountains to the delta and everything
in between, and each will be impacted differently by the climate crisis. And
since Pakistan is a poor country, it will be the poor who will be
disproportionately impacted. We know this.
We also know that Pakistan isn’t
a big greenhouse gas emitter compared to countries like China or the United
States. We’ve complied with our commitments under the United Nations Framework
Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the Kyoto Protocol and the Paris
Agreement. But now our grand plan is to build a highway through our mountain
ranges up north and ply, daily, tens of thousands of diesel spewing cargo
trucks on it — in the middle of some of the most climate sensitive parts of the
planet, and home to the third-largest collection of freshwater. Planting one,
10 or 100 billion trees is only window dressing if you’re going to pollute the
rooftop of the world.
We do have a climate policy. We
also have the Pakistan Climate Change Act, 2017 and are one of the few countries in the world that can
boast actual climate legislation. But there is a massive disconnect somewhere.
Something’s not right. The planet is going to hell in a hand-basket and no one
in Pakistan seems to care beyond the broad policy discourse that I’ve
summarised above. I think there are two reasons for this. First, that we’re
hiding behind the Principle of Common but Differentiated
Responsibilities (CBDR) as well as our
ratification of the Paris Agreement. And second, that we’ve not developed a
locally contextualised discourse on the climate crisis.
The Principle of CBDR goes back
to the UNFCCC that was signed at the Earth Summit in Rio in 1992 and the
historical inequity in greenhouse gas emissions. The objective of the UNFCCC is
the stabilisation of greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere “at a
level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference in the climate
system.” At the time of the UNFCCC, global carbon concentration in the
atmosphere was approximately 356 parts per million. At the time of the
Industrial Revolution, they stood at about 280 parts per million.
But back in 1992, it was agreed
that “such a level [of greenhouse gas concentration] should be achieved within
a time-frame sufficient to allow ecosystems to adapt naturally to climate
change, to ensure that food production is not threatened and to enable economic
development to proceed in a sustainable manner.”
Of course, none of this matters
since we’ve crossed 410 parts per million for the first time this year. On the
International Day for Biological Diversity in May this year, the Intergovernmental
Science-Policy Platform warned that, presently, nature is declining at rates
unprecedented in the 250,000 odd years of human history. And the rate of
species extinction is rising rapidly.
The historical inequity is that
since the Industrial Age, most greenhouse gases have been emitted by countries
in the Global North. Less developed countries weren’t to 'blame' for the impending
climate crisis, but they would be impacted by it. Many developing countries
didn’t have the money or economy to invest in climate adaptation and
resilience. Clearly, it was the wealthy, developed nations that were not only
historically responsible for the emissions, but also had the economy and money
to invest in mitigation. A whole field of climate justice has evolved from
here.
The Kyoto Protocol, signed in
1997 to implement the UNFCCC, embodies the Principle of CBDR. It requires
Annex-I countries — that is, developed countries — to mitigate their greenhouse
gas emissions and non-Annex-I countries — developing countries, like Pakistan —
to adapt to the impacts of the climate crisis. It envisioned a carbon trading
scheme where investments from the Global North to its South would bring
necessary technology transfer and economic activity to provide sustainable
economic development.
Of course neither the UNFCCC or
the Kyoto Protocol have worked. In the quarter century or so since these
international instruments were signed, the globe has emitted more greenhouse
gas than the quarter century before. At a global scale, as a species, we have
done nothing but accelerate the process of climate change and hasten our doom.
Given how little time the last
IPCC report gives us to stabilise greenhouse gas emissions (by 2030), and given
how bad things are already, this is no time to stand behind niceties like the
Principle of CBDR. In any event, countries aren’t rich and poor on a binary
scale. Affluence is along a spectrum, with the affluent in many developing
countries having consumption patterns and a carbon footprint rivalling anything
one could imagine in New York or Dubai. With the climate crisis, every person
and every country has to contribute to reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.
Immediately.
The other thing that the
Principle of CBDR does is give countries the ability to hide from their climate
responsibilities. Take President Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil, who has increased
the intensity of deforestation of the Amazon rainforest since taking office
earlier this year. When told that the rate of deforestation could lead to
a climate tipping point, Bolsonaro hid behind the Principle of CBDR. Brazil is not an
Annex-I country, and has no obligation to mitigate or reduce greenhouse gas
emissions. Behaviour like this needs to be called what it is: ecocide. And we
can’t let the Principle of CBDR let people get away with it.
And then there’s us. With our
dream highway through the mountains and the pivot away from a US-centric
security policy. Just like the promises of World Bank funding and the lure of
the West during the Cold War was too much to resist the inception of the Indus
Waters Treaty and the consequent devastation of the ecosystems of the Ravi and
Sutlej basins, the CBDR has blinded us to what the China–Pakistan Economic
Corridor plan means for the global and local environment. Do we really want an
ecocide so that China can have a Plan B in case its South China Sea route is
ever disrupted?
Another source of cognitive
dissonance is the repeated exhortation that Pakistan has not only ratified the
Paris Agreement but is in full compliance. This needs to be better understood.
The questions of whether cabinet approval alone truly suffices as ratification
for the purposes of the Vienna Convention can be debated by experts, but what
this clever exhortation ducks is the fact that the Paris Agreement isn’t
binding. It requires countries to voluntarily submit their contributions to
greenhouse gas reduction. As a developing country, Pakistan is allowed to
“peak” its greenhouse gas emissions post 2030 in order to maintain economic
development.
And so the Principle of CBDR
raises its head and we get cognitive dissonance again. In its Initial Nationally Determined
Contributions (INDC), submitted to the UN
in 2016, Pakistan has not committed to any reduction of greenhouse gas
emissions. Instead, we’re taking advantage of the fact that Pakistan is a
developing country.
Our INDC deal with the Global
North is that we’ll reduce these emissions by 20pc if we can get between $7 to
$14 billion per annum for the next decade. If you speak to any of the usual
suspects on this, you’ll be told that Pakistan is within its rights as a
developing country to exploit its resources for economic development. It’s as
if they can’t see the elephant in the room. There is no better evidence of this
than the fact that we just commissioned a new coal-fired power plant.
So there’s no great achievement
in complying with the Paris Agreement. The only good thing about the INDC is
that the Ministry of Climate Change is in the process of reviewing it and
intends to file a revised NDC. This will be a test of how much, if at all, the
climate vision of this government is different from the previous.
It is also a test of the Ministry
of Climate Change, which operates under limited resources, to report on dozens
of international environmental agreements. Their operational responsibilities
do not answer to the climate crisis as it is manifesting itself in Pakistan.
They’re not responsible for when unseasonal rains knocked out a significant
portion of the wheat crop in Punjab this April. Nor are they responsible for
the disaster relief necessary to cover a thousand families in Balochistan due
to unseasonal snow, rains and flooding this February.
They are, however, responsible to
ensure Pakistan’s documentation and compliance of international environmental
agreements, and to represent the country in the numerous technical and other
meetings in relation to them. But the present government’s austerity regime
means that the teams representing Pakistan at climate and related UN meetings
are unbelievably under capacity.
The response to the climate
crisis is one that is very much a provincial responsibility, but after nine
years since the 18th Amendment, no province has adopted a climate policy.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab may have draft policies ready, but neither have
been approved by their respective cabinets.
Right now, provincial politics is
everywhere but on the climate crisis. And in my experience, lack of provincial
action on climate change is in large part due to the existence of the Ministry
of Climate Change at the federal level. “If there’s a federal ministry and a
law and policy,” say the usual suspects at the provincial level, “why should we
interfere?” To date, there is no mechanism of coordination between the
federation and the provinces when it comes to the implementation of
international environment agreements.
The end result is that we’ve been
unable to carve out a local understanding of how our climate, environment and
economy are linked. One can tell by the flavour of climate protests in the
Global North versus in the Global South.
Because of the Principle of CBDR,
developed countries are responsible for mitigation over adaptation. Protests
there look towards the bad guys: the historical greenhouse gas emitters and
their beneficiaries. They direct their ire to the politics and the politicians
who let these robber barons mint money generation after generation while
polluting the entire earth with their greed.
The climate discourse in Pakistan
doesn’t have any bad guys other than those in the Global North. The discourse
here, stratified and technocrat that it is, does not speak any local language.
In any event, the Principle of CBDR has allowed for blame to entirely be cast
outside our borders. You can notice this when conversations about climate
change inevitably turn into what to do about industrial and plastic pollution —
both environmental issues. And trees. There will be lots of talk about planting
trees. But climate change is not central; it's something that the developed
countries are responsible for, and we are in compliance with the Paris
Agreement.
We’re told that the major impact
of the climate crisis will befall the water sector, that we are already water
scarce and heading towards a water emergency. If this is so — and there is
plenty to suggest we’re not running out of water, but
bear with me — then a fair question to ask would be, where
does all that water go?
The water resources of Pakistan
are the monsoon rain, summertime glacial melt and reserves of groundwater. This
water, we are told, is mostly consumed in agriculture. Some people even quote
the figure of 90pc of annual water resources being diverted to agriculture.
This may or may not be true, but it serves as a good means of contextualising
the debate.
The country's major crops are
rice, sugar, cotton and wheat. It takes more than 2,000 litres of water to
produce a kilo of rice, and we produce upwards of five million tonnes of rice
each year. Here’s the rub: Pakistan exports more rice than it consumes locally.
So if we’re running out of water, the Rice Exporters Association of Pakistan
hasn't gotten the memo.
Sugarcane, which is heavily
subsidised already, is a famously thirsty crop. And the sugar business is
Pakistan’s largest after the textile industry. One of the by-products of sugar
— ethanol — is highly valued as food-grade alcohol abroad, and just last year
the 18 distilleries operating in the country exported about $425 million worth of product globally. If we’re
running out of water, someone should ask why the Islamic Republic is allowing
the repackaging of its 'scarce' resource as ethanol to be exported for private
profit.
It takes nearly 8,000 liters of
water to produce a pair of blue jeans. One can run this exercise through all of
our high-value or export items, including non-agricultural products (especially
leather and cement), and get the same result. If we’re running out of water, it
isn’t because the water is running out. It’s because water is being consumed by
a handful of industries that are making riches exporting their product to other
countries. We’ve got plenty of water, and it’s making a handful of people rich.
An understanding of the climate
crisis through the lens of the Pakistani economy is what’s needed: an
articulation of the extreme poverty we face as a nation if our economy is
waylaid, as it was in Mozambique last year, by unexpected and unprecedented climate events.
But we won’t get to such discourse if, every time there’s a serious discussion
on climate change, it gets waylaid by a casual remark about the CBDR.
It’s time to re-examine the
approach we've evolved on climate change in Pakistan. It’s time to seriously
re-examine all the policy positions we’ve taken for granted. The climate crisis
is real and it is upon us. So while Pakistan must develop a foreign policy that
allows it to seriously negotiate climate finance while holding developed
countries to account for their historical role in polluting the earth,
Pakistani institutions must understand that the climate crisis is not something
the Ministry of Climate Change can save them from and that we have a
responsibility to take serious measures to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions.
This may take the form of
improving fuel quality. It may take the form of changing agricultural
practices. It may take the form of reducing our meat consumption. But we cannot
continue thinking that climate change is not our problem.
Illustration by Mushba Said
Are you an environmentalist
working in Pakistan? Share your insights with us at prism@dawn.com
Ahmad Rafay Alam is an
environmental lawyer and is currently a member of the (never convened to date)
Pakistan Climate Change Council. He Tweets @rafay_alam
Pakistani cricketer Hassan Ali dances to Indian songs in Dubai at his
wedding
Pakistani fast bowler weds Dubai-based Indian flight engineer in
an elegant ceremony
Pakistani
cricketer Hassan Ali weds Dubai based Indian flight engineer Samiya Arzoo in
Dubai on TuesdayImage Credit: Daartistphoto
ALSO IN THIS
PACKAGE
Dubai: Famous Pakistani fast bowler Hassan Ali danced to the
tune of Indian songs as he got married to Dubai-based Indian expatriate Samiya
Arzoo here on Tuesday.
Hassan Ali’s wedding was the talk of the town in Dubai among
Indian and Pakistan expatriates as photos and videos from the wedding were
leaked by some guests. These went viral on social media. The wedding
reception was mostly attended by close friends and relatives, and no
famous personalities, politicians diplomats or filmstars were invited.
“It was quite amusing to watch the fast bowler trying to dance
with his bride while his teammate and famous spin bowler Shaddab Khan was
filming the moves on his mobile phone,” a guest who attended the wedding at
Atlantis, The Palm Hotel and Resorts, told Gulf News.
Clad in a black sherwani with red piping and
golden embroidery work, Ali looked quite sharp. He also wore a turban and
a statement necklace. Samiya went traditional in her extravagant lehenga -
a red
and golden Indian wedding dress - accompanied with diamond and gold
jewellery. She also wore chooriyan or red bangles, a
common bridal adornment for north Indian brides.
Hassan
Ali and Samiya during a photo shoot at their wedding in DubaiImage Credit: Social media
Guests were treated to a sumptuous meal which was a mix of
Arabic and Asian cuisine. Some of the dishes included: Peshwari
karahi, biryani, vegetable rice, steamed mutton, aalu
methis, mutton Karachi and Arabic mixed-grill. There were also
a vast variety of salads and desserts.
Hassan
Ali and Samiya with guests at their wedding ceremony in DubaiImage Credit: Social media
Hassan Ali’s close friends and relatives attended the wedding,
while some guests from bride’s side also joined them from New Delhi.
None of his teammates from the Pakistan cricket team, except his
best friend Shaddab Khan, attended the event due to a training camp in
Pakistan.
The nikkah –signing of marriage
contract-- was performed earlier on Monday, following which they went for a
pre-wedding photoshoot near the iconic Burj Khalifa in Dubai.
Hassan
Ali and Samiya during the nikkah ceremony.Supplied
Hassan and Samiya met a year ago through a close friend in
Dubai. “I spoke to my brother and sister-in-law after I met her. I told my
brother that I wanted to marry her and the family had no issue,” he had told
media earlier.
Ali is the fourth Pakistani cricketer to marry an Indian girl.
Pakistan’s all-rounder Shoaib Malik had married Indian tennis star Sania Mirza
on April 12, 2010.
Famous
Pakistani cricketer Shaddab Khan (right) attending his best friend Hassan Ali's
wedding in DubaiImage Credit: Social media
Famous Pakistani cricketer Mohsin Khan got married to renowned
Indian actress Reena Roya in 1983 while stylish Pakistani batsman Zaheer Abbas
who played for Pakistan cricket team in 1970s had married Indian girl Rita
Luthra now known as Samina Abbas in 1988.
Wedding celebrations have been going on for the last few days.
An important event of ‘Mehndi’ – a gathering of singing and
henna a day before the wedding day—was held on Monday in Dubai. Hassan Ali went
around the city with his bride Samiya Arzu for a photoshoot which was leaked on
social media. The couple was photographed at different locations including
Jumeirah Board Walk, Atlantis, Burj Khalifa and Burj Al Arab.
Hassan Ali, clad in green kurta, had his bachelor party with his
close friends who were all clad in orange kurtas. They also went around the
city and the desert for a photoshoot.
However, Hassan Ali will also host walima ceremony (a
traditional banquet hosted by the groom after the wedding) in Pakistan after a
month or so after his honeymoon.
Hassan
Ali and Samiya during the photo shoot at their wedding in DubaiImage Credit: Social media
Though Samiya Arzoo lives in Dubai, very little information is
available about her and her family. It was reported earlier that she does not
like cricket which is bread and butter of her groom Hassan Ali.
According to media reports, Samiya, who works for a private
airline, hails from Haryana. She studied engineering from England and lives
with her parents in Dubai, with some of the family members in New Delhi.
Hassan, who has played nine Tests and 53 ODIs, played an
instrumental role in Pakistan’s 2017 Champions Trophy triumph.
Pakistan
set to get out of current account deficit trap
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan is set to
overcome its most agonizing headache of current account deficit (CAD) trap, as
it will be zero by end of the ongoing fiscal, Adviser to Prime Minister on
Commerce, Textile, Industry & Production and Investment Abdul Razak Dawood
told The News in an interview here on Tuesday.
The interview encompassed trade
issues with the US, China and Afghanistan and the government efforts to put
Pakistan’s economic trajectory on the right track. If kept in view the monthly
trade figures of the month of July, 2019 in which the trade gap has tumbled to
$2 billion per month as the export stayed at $1.9 billion whereas the imports
remained at $3.9 billion and if this trend continues for the remaining whole
current fiscal, then the trade deficit will be hovering at $24 billion by end
of June 2020 which will be neutralized by the workers remittances that stand at
$21.8 billion in last year 2018-19 against the $19.9 billion recorded in
2017-18 showing the growth of 9.68 percent and incase the same growth kept in
view then in the current fiscal, remittance are most likely to increase up to
$23 billion.
Moreover the exports will also
surge this time reasonably because the export industry has been facilitated by
the government at the maximum.’
The adviser said: ‘’I am quite
optimistic from the trade figures of July that Pakistan will pull itself from
the tormenting issue of current account deficit, as so far the current account
deficit has been brought down by 32 percent from $19.897 billion in financial year
2017-18 to $13.587 billion in 2018-19 which will be zeroed by end of June
2020.’’
“The trade deficit in 2017-18 had
alarmingly ballooned to $37 billion that has remarkably tumbled to $31 billion
in 2018-19 by contracting the imports and now the government firmly intends to
further reduce the trade gap to $24 billion,” Mr Dawood said and highlighted
the point saying in the same breath that 10 days Eidul Azha holidays had
inflicted reasonable loss to country’s exports and domestic commerce as well.
“Since we are too much behind the regional economies so we need to work hard
more and also need to do away with the culture of enjoying the maximum
holidays.”
Citing the example of China, the
Adviser said last time he visited China, there was a Labour Day which is
celebrated on May 1 across the country and in China being a communist country,
Labour Day has too much importance.
He said before Labour Day there was
a Sunday—the weekly holiday, but he noticed that on Sunday all the government
departments and factories were running in full swing. “This means Chinese
scarified the Sunday holiday to celebrate the labour holiday ensuring one
holiday in a week and they did not combine two holidays and preferred to work
on Sunday and this is the secrete of China’s success.”
Dawood wishes this kind of China
policy on holidays be implemented in Pakistan. Touching upon the foreign direct
Investment has which has gone down by 50 percent from $3.4 billion in 2017-18
to $1.737 billion in last fiscal 2018-19, the adviser, who also holds the
portfolio of investment, admitted the fact that FDI had tumbled but in the same
moment he pitched the argument analyzing the reasons of fall in FDI saying that
in 2017-18, the main portion came from China for investment and if it is
omitted then there will no remarkable change in FDI figures in 2018-19 if
compared with that of 2017-18. However, Mr Dawood was jubilant on sharing the
fact that in manufacturing sector the FDI had increased by 33 percent.
He also maintained that there were
positive signs showing the expansion and investment in textile sector by the
business community. Pakistan is now fast moving towards the production of value
added products to earn more dollars. This time exports of yarn has reduced by
18 percent meaning by that the usage of yarn in Pakistan has increased which is
quite evident from the fact that the exports of value added product that
include garments, knit wears and home textiles have increased.
Export of garments and knit wears
has increased by 17 percent each whereas the home textile has soared by 16
percent. Earlier, Pakistan was known to export yarn on a large scale which was
not less than a crime. The efficient economies uses the raw material and make
the value added products and earn the more. Now Pakistan’s export sector is on
the right track.
He said Pakistan had got the $1
billion order for exports to China under which Pakistan was to export sugar,
rice and yarn. “We completed the task of exporting sugar and rice, but failed
to meet the target of yarn export as the yarn is being used by export industry
for value addition. Now I would soon visit China and ask Chinese authorities to
allow Pakistan export more rice in place of yarn under $1 billion export
order,” he said.
Asked when the Free Trade Agreement
with China will get effective and operationalized, he said it will be
operational either by end of ongoing month of September or in the first week of
October.
He said in China after signing the
agreements a formal approval was sought from the cabinet and other top
decision-making bodies. He mentioned that recently Chinese ambassador held a
meeting with him and told him that everything to this effect was on track.
To a question, He while mentioning
about the domestic commerce emphasized that the smuggled goods which have
flooded the markets are being checked and the process of documentation is
underway and to this effect he once a week meets FBR chairman and discusses the
pace of documentation and actions against the smuggling of goods into the
country.
Having the feel-good factor on
actions against smuggling and efforts on documentation, the US multinational
company—the Procter & Gamble has shown inclination to invest in Pakistan as
the erasing of smuggled goods and documentation of domestic commerce will help
provide it the level playing field in Pakistan.
He said that the top man of the
said US Company had recently met with Prime Minister Imran Khan and appreciated
the actions against smuggled goods and efforts to document the economy saying
these steps had encouraged the company to think about investment in Pakistan.
“In the meeting, the prime minister
was very clear and determined on the issue of documentation of the economy,” he
said. About the trade issues with US, Mr. Dawood said that during last visit of
Prime Minister Imran Khan to the US, very positives talks were held and the US
entrepreneurs had shown keen interest to invest in Pakistan’s energy sector.
‘If again I was part of the prime minister’s entourage during next
visit to the US in September, I will pitch trade issue with authorities in US,
and to this effect we are in process to confirm the dates for meetings to be
held with US secretariat trade and USTR (US trade representative). “I want both
the counties to hold the formal meeting on TIFA (Trade Investment Framework
Agreement) to pave the way for more trade ties and investment in Pakistan.” The
adviser said Pakistan wanted the US entrepreneurs to invest in food processing
industry and make electricity by using the waste of Karachi that will also help
clear the business city.
Pakistan also offered US businessmen to set up in desalination
plant to provide drinking water to Karachiites. Talking about Afghanistan, the
adviser said Kabul was eager to sign with PTA (Preferential Trade Agreement)
with Pakistan, as President Ashraf Ghani in his last visit to Pakistan had
desired a trade accord.
Mr. Dawood said he was going to Kabul on September 4 for a two-day
visit where he will have detailed meetings with authorities concerned to iron
out the issues hampering the trade bilateral between the two countries.
Dawood said he will also have a meeting with President Ashraf
Ghani. Some months back, Afghan delegation came here and wanted Pakistan to
open Wagha border for trade with India for Kabul.
“We told them the meeting is bilateral not trilateral and it
should be strict to the bilateral trade issues.”
Pak-Afghan Transit Trade issues, he said, would also be figured
out during the visit apart from bilateral trade issues. Mentioning the trade
issues with Iran, he said Pakistan owed $114 million to Iran against the use of
Iranian electricity.
Pakistan is unable to pay through banks in the presence of US
sanctions. So both countries have deicide to go for barter trade of commodities
and Pakistan has decided to pay off electricity dues of Iran in the shape of
half a million tons of rice and to this effect both sides were in the process
to carve out a strategy under which barter trade would usher in. However, Sate
Bank of Pakistan has refused to violate US sanctions while dealing with trade
issues with Iran and the government has to this effect intimidated the Iranian
government.
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